


The Dreams We Dream

by AlexiaNite



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Smut, Hokage Hatake Kakashi, M/M, References to Depression, Slow Burn, non-canon, possibly???, will add tags as needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-08-04 16:20:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 50,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16349999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaNite/pseuds/AlexiaNite
Summary: Iruka is struggling to deal with the aftermath of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. At night, he dreams of a world that doesn't exist, where he and Kakashi are lovers. In the morning, he wakes alone. How does he cope when the real life Kakashi takes an interest in becoming better friends with him? Can he push his feelings aside and enjoy the friendship or will he let it break him?





	1. Dreaming of you

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I am my own beta. I apologize in advance for any mistakes. This story is mostly told from Iruka's perspective with Kashashi's thoughts occasionally added. I may add a chapter that focuses more heavily on Kakashi later on.

Chapter 1

Kakashi paused mid knock as Iruka opened the door. Both look startled to see the other. "Kakashi-san, I wasn't expecting to see you." The chunin offered up a small smile. 

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "I just got back from a short mission and was hoping you'd like to join me for lunch. It looks like you're on your way out. Sorry for dropping by unannounced."

Iruka smiled at him again. This time the smile lit up his whole face. "I was actually heading out to get something to eat. It was a crazy week at the academy, so I was going to treat myself to some ramen. Why don't you join me?"

"Maa, sensei, you're too kind." Ramen wasn't exactly the jounin's favorite, but he'd been dying to see the other man all week. He knew he'd been busy with finals and hadn't wanted to disturb him. Not that he was keeping tabs on him. His favorite tree to rest in just happened to be outside Iruka's classroom.

The chunin locked the door behind them and they headed out. Iruka had to admit it was still odd that Kakashi had struck up a friendship with him. Other than their students, they didn't have much in common. That didn't stop the sensei from having that damn dream over and over again. Though it was more like a memory of a dream.

Kakashi was silent as they walked. Iruka had seemed genuinely happy to see him, but now he wasn't sure. The sensei was unusually quiet and looked a bit...sad. The jounin thought that the other man had been avoiding him. He'd thought he was overreacting. "Did I do something to offend you Iruka-sensei?"

This startled Iruka out of his thoughts. "Of course not, Kakashi-san. Why would you think that?"

"I just haven't seen much of you lately. I was starting to get worried you were avoiding me." Kakashi laughed as if he were joking. He never had been one to show any vulnerabilities. It was much easier to hide behind a joke or his normal 'lazy' personality. 

"O-of course I haven't been avoiding you," Iruka sputtered out. He had absolutely been avoiding Kakashi, but he thought he'd been subtle about it. Maybe not quite avoiding. More like hiding. Things had been different after the war, after the Infinite Tsukuyomi and the dream world it had created for the chunin.

The jounin smiled at him through his mask. "I know it was a silly thought. I figured you were busy with finals." He realized his error when Iruka stopped walking.

“How did you know it was finals?” He found it a bit odd that a jounin would keep track of the academy’s schedule. 

"Hmm?" Kakashi shrugged, trying to play it off. "Must have over heard it somewhere. I'm starving. Good thing Ichiraku is right around the corner." Great plan, Kakashi. Distract him with his one weakness, ramen.

Iruka gave him a look that said he didn't believe him, but started walking again. Ramen always wins out. "I'm surprised the Hokage hasn't dragged you in to a meeting today." It was no secret that she planned on retiring soon and wanted to make Kakashi her successor.

The jounin slouched down even more than usual, as if just thinking about becoming the Hokage put an actual strain on his body. "I have been in every boring meeting this month. I deserve at least one day off."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Just as Ichiraku came into view, Iruka pulled out his teacher voice. "Kakashi Hatake! You have been given a great honor. You were chosen to be the Rokudaime. The meetings you are attending are extremely important. And another thing -"

The lecture probably would have lasted much longer, but to Kakashi's extreme delight, Teuchi stepped out from his ramen shop. He grinned and waved to them. "Iruka-sensei, I thought I heard your voice. It's good to see you."

"I've been meaning to stop by.  Time just gets away from me with the academy." He grinned at the older man.

Teuchi laughed. "I know you can't stay away for long. Just like Naruto. And you brought Kakashi-san with you! It's good to see you as well." Kakashi nodded at him.

The two shinobi settled down on their stools as Teuchi went back to the small kitchen area. "What would you two like? The Naruto special? " he asked, chuckling to himself. It had been a frequent request since the war. 

"Sounds good to me." Iruka had let the morning get away from him and had missed breakfast, so he was starving. 

"Why not?" Kakashi told him with a shrug. "But make mine smaller. I can't put it away like Naruto can."

Iruka felt like crying when the steaming bowl of ramen was set in front of him. It had been far too long since he'd been able to enjoy a bowl of his favorite food. The instant stuff at home didn't count. He was about half way through his bowl before he realized Kakashi was staring at him. "Can I help you with something, Kakashi-san?" He asked, blushing a bit. Why was the jounin staring like that? 

"Hmm? No, I was just thinking how much you and Naruto are alike. He's the only other one I know that eats ramen like it's better than sex." Kakashi had quickly finished his own bowl before getting distracted by Iruka so thoroughly enjoying his. 

This made the chunin blush even more. "That's not....I mean..." Damn it, why did Kakashi have to tease him like that. He felt like a fool as he stumbled over his words. "It's my favorite food, but I'd hardly say I enjoy it more than sex." Oh...Kami no. Now he was just giving the known pervert more to work with. 

Kakashi felt a grin spread across his face.  "Oh, sensei, I never would have guessed you were a closet pervert."

"Kakashi-san!" Iruka could feel his temper rising. "You are the next Hokage. Act like it!" He turned back to his food, quickly finishing it. He knew his cheeks were still flushed as he stood up to pay.

Kakashi got to it before him. He slipped Teuchi enough money to cover both their meals, and a generous tip, and had ducked out before Iruka could protest. 

Iruka thanked Teuchi and hurried after Kakashi. "You didn't have to do that."

"Maa, I wanted to. That's something friends do, right?" He knew it sounded odd when he put it like that, but he wasn't exacted up to date on how normal friendships worked. His closest friend was Guy after all.

Iruka's cheeks turned slightly pink. So Kakashi considered him a friend? That was a nice thought since they had once been at each others throats. 

"Besides, you still have to tell me about all the ways sex is better than ramen." The silver hair shinobi easily dodged the elbow thrown his way. 

"You are the worst, Kakashi-san!" Iruka huffed and angrily glared at him. "It's bad enough you read those vulgar books. Now, you're trying to draw me into a horrible conversation in the middle town."

Kakashi was about to respond when he saw an ANBU on the roof of a nearby building. He'd been caught. "We will have to continue our conversation another time, sensei." He disappeared in puff of smoke just as Tsunade rounded a corner, looking like she was ready to kill someone. 

"I will kill him," Iruka hissed under his breath. So much for not having a meeting today. 

***

Iruka knew he was dreaming, but like most nights he couldn't bring himself to wake up. Not when he was in bed with the love of his life. Rough hands stroked his back, trying to coax him awake. "Iruka, my love, it's time to wake up." He knew if he waited the other man would do more than touch him. He would pepper his skin with soft kisses until he reached the spot of the back of Iruka's neck that made him melt.

He loved waking up that way, but today he rolled over so he could drink in his lover's face. Kakashi Hatake took his breath away. His silver hair was rumpled from sleep. His mismatched eyes were staring down at him. Iruka could get lost in them for hours. He loved the little half smirk Kakashi gave him when he was thinking naughty things. He'd never seen a more beautiful man. 

Iruka reached up and cupped the other man's chin. "I love you, Kakashi."

The jounin grinned as he kissed Iruka's hand. "If you really loved me, you'd act out that scene from Icha Ich-" He is cut off when Iruka pulls him down for a kiss. "You think you can distract me with kisses?"

"I know I can," he whispered against Kakashi's lips, then kissed him again. 

Kakashi moaned as the chunin deepened the kiss. No matter how many times they made love, he would always want him. "Play hooky with me today, sensei." 

Iruka laughed as he pulled away. "I'm in charge now. It sets a bad example for the teachers if I call in."

This did little to dissuade the silver haired man. He had Iruka pinned to the bed before he could finish his reasoning as to why this was a bad idea. He knew just how to made his love melt for him. And today he was going to keep him all to himself. 

Iruka opened his mouth to protest, but the incessant beeping of his alarm clock woke him instead. He rolled over, groggily turning it off. He was very much alone in his cold bed. No lover waking him. No Kakashi. Just like every other day. This morning it crushed him a bit. The dream had been so real. He'd felt Kakashi's love and warmth, but it was just a dream…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter makes me so sad, but I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Bad Ideas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still just beta'd by me. I will mostly be posting new chapters on the weekend, but I may try to post mid week if I get enough written.

Iruka didn't see Kakashi for another two weeks, for which he was grateful. With school out, he'd been taking some short, local missions. He'd been working the missions desk less that usual for a summer. There was still so much to rebuild. He wanted to help the village as much as possible. 

The chunin was taking a break from the hard day of labor when Kakashi found him. His normal ponytail was coming loose. Wisps of brown hair stuck to his sweat covered face. His vest was gone, so he only wore his thin uniform shirt. He'd pushed the sleeves up so his forearms were exposed. And every inch of him was covered in sweat or dirt. 

Iruka almost groaned when he saw the silver haired shinobi wave to him. He'd had another dream last night. A dream that had left his heart pounding and his body aching. He'd taken on the mission helping with repairs today trying to forget the man who was quickly approaching him. Now, he was desperately in need of a shower and had to deal with Kakashi. 

Kakashi seemed oblivious to his struggle as he approached. "Yo, sensei. Looks like you're working hard today."

"Well the village isn't going to repair itself." He took a drink from his water bottle, grateful it was still a bit cool. "Thanks by the way. Tsunade yelled at me for a solid 15 minutes because she couldn't find you the day we got ramen."

Kakashi chuckled awkwardly. "I really did deserve a day off..."

"Don't worry. I made sure she knew if was all your fault." Iruka had thrown the other shinobi to the wolves. It was bad enough he kept dreaming about him. He didn't need to take his punishments as well.

"Ah...thanks for that. Though I suppose I deserved it." The jounin took a seat next to Iruka. 

"I swear if you are here ditching another meeting, I will end you." The chunin was almost too tired to probably berate him, but he still managed. 

"Maa, sensei, you don't trust me at all." He snorted at the angry glare he received in response. "I promise I have no important meetings today. I just saw you sitting here and thought I'd join you. Since the war, I've been trying to make more of an effort with my friends."

There was that word again. Friend. It made Iruka's heart flutter that Kakashi considered him a friend. He pushed that feeling away. No matter how many times he dreamed of the other man, they were just friends. And Iruka desperately didn't want to mess that up. They'd gotten closer over the years, when Naruto had been off training. He cherished the connection they'd made. He just wished his subconscious would stop trying to make it more than it was. 

"Well, maybe we can make some time to hang out. I could make us dinner." Iruka knew he should probably be distancing himself from the jounin, but it was clear he was seeking him out to strengthen their friendship. Kakashi had always seemed so closed off. He couldn't very well shut him down just when he was starting to open himself up. 

"Hmm, how about tonight? Unless you have a mission in the morning?" Kakashi suggested. He knew for a fact that the chunin hadn't picked up another mission yet. 

"Tonight? I think I could do that. I told them I'd stay here for a few more hours, but I'm free after that. I had actually picked tomorrow as a day off, so you have excellent timing." Oh no. Dinner alone felt romantic. Why had he suggested that? He hoped the smile on his face didn't reveal the panicked struggle going on inside him. 

"Sounds great. I’ll be there at 7." He said in a rush just before he disappeared. Iruka was confused for a moment before an ANBU appeared before him. He hung his head in defeat. This time he might just kill the other man.

***

After several tense minutes of questioning, the ANBU decided he didn't know where Kakashi had gone, letting Iruka finish up helping at the construction site. He knew he was gross and probably smelled, but he made a quick stop by the market. He didn't want to have to go out again.  
He debated about grabbing a bottle of sake before finally just grabbing one. 

The shower he took was glorious. He couldn't believe how much grime he washed from his body. He was sore, but content with his work today. Helping rebuild the village gave him something to focus on with the academy being on break. Still his mind wandered back to his dream. He felt his body start to stir, so he quickly turn the water to cold.

He shuddered as the cool water hit his skin. "Get it together, Iruka." He wished he could shake the memories of the fake world the Infinite Tsukuyomi had created, but the dreams just seem to get more intense over time.

Iruka gave up on the cold shower and decided to get dressed so he start dinner. He remember Kakashi mentioning he liked miso soup and eggplant. It was a bit warm for soup, but it was the best plan he had. He could only hope it take his mind off of Kakashi. 

***

Iruka wasn't surprised Kakashi was 20 minutes late, but he was surprised when the jounin crawled in through the living room window. "I do have a front door." The chunin scolded him, hands on his hips. 

"Maa, this was easier." Kakashi told him, slipping his sandals off. 

Iruka rolled his eyes. "Thanks for leaving me with your ANBU friend today. You said you didn't have a meeting today!" This was going well. Kakashi had been there for less than a minute and Iruka was already yelling at him. He snatched a pillow off of the couch. 

"Technically, I said I didn't have an important meeting." He said as he dodged the pillow that Iruka had lobbed at his head. "Dinner smells good."

"Miso soup with eggplant, not that you deserve it." Iruka grumbled as he retrieved the pillow, tossing it back onto the couch. 

Kakashi's face lit up. He seemed so much more expressive now that he could see both of his eyes. "Oh you do love me, Iruka-sensei. You made my favorite."

Iruka turned a dark shade of red. He knew the jounin liked it, but making his favorite food hadn't been his intention. "I just... I thought you had mentioned it once." 

Kakashi grinned at him. How he made it look lecherous through a mask, Iruka would never understand. "Oh that's so nice of you Ruka-kun. I would have bought a nicer bottle of sake if I knew this was a date."

The chunin weighed his options of how to kill the silver haired man in his apartment. Being a missing nin couldn't be that bad, right? He'd most certainly have to leave after killing the village's top shinobi. "Why am I even friends with you?" He asked hotly as he stormed into the kitchen. 

"I ask myself that too." Kakashi said, sadly, mostly to himself. He regretted pushing the other man too far. His social skills were almost non-existent. There was just something about the sensei that he loved to push him. He followed after him to apologize. 

Iruka had regained his composure by the time Kakashi had joined him. He passed him a bowl of soup. "I apologize, Kakashi-san. I know you were just joking and not truly making fun of me. I've had others that claimed to be my friend that were cruel and I would laugh it off, no matter how much it hurt." An image of Mizuki flashed through his mind. "But I know it was a joke and I overreacted."

Kakashi set the soup bowl down. How did Iruka do that? How was he able to just be open and vulnerable? "I'm sorry too." He said surprising both of them. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It was in poor taste. Thank you for the meal, Iruka-sensei."

"You're sharing a meal with me in my home. I think just Iruka is fine." He looked away as he said it to hide his blush. 

Kakashi was silent for a moment. The chunin quietly filled his own bowl, wishing he'd say something. "Then I suppose you should just call me Kakashi." Iruka let out the breath he'd been holding. 

"I think I can do that." Both men sat at his small dining room table. It was barely big enough to fit them both. They settled into a comfortable silence. Iruka kept his head bowed, so Kakashi could eat with his mask pulled down. 

"The soup's good." Kakashi said after a few minutes. "I knew you could cook, but I was a little worried that you only knew how to make ramen." Kakashi laughed. "Oh, I forgot." He pulled couple of small bottles of sake from a pouch. "I wasn't sure what kind you'd want, so I got a few."

"I picked some up as well. I had forgotten all about it." Iruka quickly grabbed two glasses and rejoined him at the table. "I guess we can have a sampling."

"Oh sensei, I think that's a great plan."

***

It had not been a great plan, Iruka decided. They had polished of the bottles Kakashi had brought, then started in on the larger bottle that Iruka had purchased. It seemed the jounin was a very flirty drink. He'd even tried to bury his hand in Iruka's hair, trying to see if it was as soft as it looked.

The teacher finally got him to fall asleep on the couch after much pleading to take his hair down. Iruka had refused politely and got him to lay down. Kakashi was out like a light as soon as his back hit the couch. 

Lightweight. Iruka thought as he covered him with a blanket. He was mildly impressed that the other man's mask had managed to stay in place through all the drinking. He'd looked away the few times Kakashi had gotten a little careless. He desperately wanted to know what the other man looked like, but he respected his privacy. And he didn't want to know if this Kakashi looked like his dream Kakashi. 

Iruka turned away from him, suddenly sad. He shouldn't have drank so much. The alcohol was helping to fuel his current melancholy mood. His heart ached. His body ached. He quickly rubbed away the sudden tears that threatened to fall. It felt like as his friendship with Kakashi grew, so did his depression. He loved being friends with Kakashi. He loved his quirks and humor. He loved... him. 

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. He was in love with Kakashi Hatake. Not the the idea of him. Not the dream version of him. Just him. He stifled a sob and quickly headed to his room. He couldn't have this breakdown in front of the other man. 

He kept it together until he shut the bedroom door behind him. He collapsed on the bed, sobs wracking his body. Iruka buried his face into his pillow, muffling the noise. He would die of embarrassment if he woke his house guest. He couldn't stand the thought that Kakashi would see how weak and pathetic he was. 

He was disgusted with himself. So many people were suffering after the war. So many had lost loved ones. Kakashi had lost his Sharingan. What had Iruka lost? A fake world full of lies? He couldn't keep it together after that. He knew he was sinking deeper into depression and he hated himself for it. 

He was not proud to admit that he cried himself to sleep. His dreams were disturbing and half formed. His friends abandoned him, Naruto left. He was alone. So alone. The worst part was when Kakashi told him how pathetic and unlovable he was. 

He thrashed about in his sleep, trying to escape a darkness that came for him. He woke up, confused and startled. Iruka was shocked to find a pair of dark eyes staring down at him. Kakashi was on top of him, gently holding him down. 

"Kakashi-san?" His head was pounding and he felt nauseous.

Kakashi was looking down at him with an unreadable look on his face. "You were crying my name out in your sleep. You started thrashing about when I tried to wake you." His face softened a bit. "And I thought we agreed to drop the formal titles, Iruka."

Iruka closed his eyes. "I'm okay now. You can let me up, Kakashi." He sounded utterly exhausted and defeated. The jounin hesitated for a moment before moving off of him, but didn't go far.

Kakashi weighed his options. As a shinobi, he hated people seeing him at his lowest points. But Iruka was his friend and obviously hurting. "Are you alright?" He finally asked the chunin.

Iruka half wished that Kakashi would just leave. He felt hollow inside. "Just a bad dream." He told the other man, praying he'd leave it alone. 

Kakashi instead pressed forward. "I thought...I thought I heard you crying earlier."

The teacher wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment. He was not having this conversation. Kakashi was not sitting on the end of his bed, tenderly asking if he was okay. He felt bile rise up in his throat.

The sheets held him up for a moment, but luckily he made it to the toilet. Unshed tears burned his eyes as he emptied the contents of his stomach. If he'd been alone, he'd have cried, and let himself wallow in self-pity.

"I guess we over did it with the sake." Kakashi had known he should stop after a few drinks in, but he hadn't wanted the evening with Iruka to end. Now, the chunin was paying for his selfishness. 

Iruka rested his head on the cool toilet rim. He was a fucking mess and Kakashi had been the for it all. He wished he could wake up from all of this. "I guess I had too much." He tried to keep his tone light, but it came off bitter his ears. 

"Maybe I should go..." Kakashi really didn't want to leave, but he seemed to be making it worse. 

Iruka wanted to beg him to stay, to love him. "That's probably for the best," he said instead. It hurt them both far more than they both realized for Kakashi to leave. When he was gone, Iruka didn't bother to muffle his cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed chapter two. I promise the story will get happier soon, mostly because I hate making Iruka miserable. As someone who has depression and anxiety, I just wanted to make a note that they can be hard to deal with. Please reach out to someone who can help if you are struggling.


	3. Ramen Fixes Everything

Iruka woke up on his bathroom floor several hours later. He winced as he sat up. His back was stiff, making it hurt to stand up. The night before came flooding back. He didn't know how he was ever going to face Kakashi again. Becoming a missing nin was starting to sound better and better.

Rather than fleeing the village, he started up the shower. He needed to try to put last night behind him. Warm showers helped him relax and clear his mind. Shower, brush teeth, get dressed. He could do this. 

He had never been so glad for hot water and a toothbrush before. His mouth tasted awful. He barely recognized himself in the mirror. He looked utterly exhausted. He ran a brush through his hair, but didn't bother putting it up. It seemed like more effort than he could muster right then. 

He skipped putting on his uniform, instead picking out comfortable sleep pants and a shirt Naruto had bought him. There was nothing that could make him leave the house today. 

Iruka headed to the kitchen. He needed food, but probably couldn't handle more than toast. He was glad he had the forethought to clean up the kitchen last night before he and Kakashi got too drunk. Just the thought of the jounin made his heart ache. 

He'd just put his kettle on and started his toast, when a loud knock came from his front door. Iruka prayed to Kami that they'd go away. Instead, they knocked louder. "Iruka-sensei, are you home?" Naruto's boisterous voice called from outside. 

That was the only person who could possibly get him to open the door. Iruka hurried to the front door. He opened it before Naruto could knock again. "Naruto, it's so good to see you."

Naruto was grinning like an idiot as he pulled Iruka into a tight hug. "It's good to see you too, Iruka-sensei." The chunin hugged him back. His foul mood disappeared as soon as they embraced. 

"You don't have to call me sensei anymore." He told Naruto laughing. He stepped back so Naruto could enter. They both knew the blond had long surpassed him. 

"You'll always be my sensei." Naruto's grin was infectious. Iruka could feel his own smile grow bigger.

"I'm really glad you stopped by. I thought you were gone on a mission?" Iruka had barely seen him since the war. He'd been gone on missions almost non stop since then. 

"I got back last night. I brought you back something." He held up a huge bag, filled to the brim with something. "I know I haven't seen you much lately and I wanted to share this with you." Naruto took the bag over to Iruka's dining room table and emptied out the contents. 

There had to be at least a dozen different types of instant ramen. Iruka didn't know what he'd been expecting, but he laughed. "That's an nice assortment you've got."

The blond laughed as well. "Well, I've spent so much time outside of the village, I decided to see what kind of ramen I could find." 

They decide on a few to try and Naruto told him what he can of his last few missions. Iruka couldn’t remember the last time he'd smiled this much. He truly had missed the younger man. The few hours he got with him seemed the revitalize him. 

Finally, Naruto got up to leave. "I promised Hinata I'd come see her when I was done." He told his former teacher with a blush. 

Iruka's heart swelled with love. He was glad the once lonely boy had found someone who truly cared about him. "Well, tell her I hope she's doing well. We'll have to do dinner one night."

"Hinata would love that. She's really found of you, you know, since you took care of me." Naruto told him, a little embarrassed. He talked about Iruka a lot to his girlfriend. 

"I'm grateful you've found someone so loving to be in your life." Iruka knew how hard being an orphan was and that was without being the host to a tailed beast.

"Yeah, she pretty great." Naruto had felt silly that he hadn't noticed that Hinata had been so in love with him for years. "She has a cousin about your age. She's really nice. I could introduce you two."

Iruka's eye widened. He did not need his former student trying to set him up with women. "Thank you, but no. I'm happy on my own." Maybe if he said the lie enough, he would believe it.

They said their goodbyes and Iruka was once again left to his empty apartment. Rather than focus on everything that was wrong, he decided to take the day to thoroughly deep clean his apartment. He put his hair up with a determined look and went to town. It didn't take nearly long enough to get the place sparkling. 

It was still early evening when he finished. Iruka wished the academy was in session so he'd have homework to grade. He knew he was getting desperate to keep his mind off of Kakashi when he was longing for poorly written papers. Instead, he settled on the couch with a book he only half remembered buying and tried to read. 

He gave up after a while. He'd read the same page over and over again and still couldn't focus on the words. The visit with Naruto had helped tremendously, but his mind was still a mess. 

Iruka put the book back on the shelf and decided to head up to the roof. It was peaceful up there and he could watch the sunset. He couldn't be bothered to change out of his clothes. He just hoped none of his neighbors were around to see him looking so disheveled.

He slipped some shoes on and headed out. The chunin wasn't on the roof long before he felt a very familiar chakra signature approach. He briefly considered fleeing. His pride kept him rooted in place as Kakashi came up behind him. 

The silver haired man sat next to him. "Peace offering." He said, passing over some take out. "I'm sorry about last night." 

Iruka took the offered food. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just... had a rough night."

Kakashi studied the other man's face. "I should have called it quits after the first bottle." He continued before Iruka could protest, "I know something has been bothering you. I'm not actually the best one to try to talk about this kind of thing, but I hate to see you hurting like that. You don't have to talk to me, but please, talk to someone."

Iruka stared down at the food in his lap. He wanted to tell him everyone. Would Kakashi want to remain friends? Would he be disgusted that a man was in love with him? Would he feel the same? He knew he'd been silent for too long. "After the war, everything changed. The dreams...the dreams changed everything for a lot of people."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. Divorce, missing nin, people seeking their dreams. It had brought good and bad after the world woke up. He was secretly grateful he'd been spared that pain. He knew what his dream would have been like. 

"I didn't realize how lonely I was until then," Iruka continued as he picked at the food the jounin had brought him. "I was happy and loved. My parents were alive. So were Naruto's. I've never seen him look so happy and carefree. I was married to the love of my life." He couldn't keep the emotions out of his voice. "I didn’t realize how much I cared about this person until then. Until I woke up and it wasn't real. I know people think I'm too weak and emotional to be a shinobi. I'm starting to agree with them." The shame sat heavy in the pit of his stomach.

"Iruka, you are not wreak. You are one of the strongest people I know." The jounin looked up at the darkening sky. "How you thought about telling her how you feel?”

"Her? Oh, the person in the dream." Iruka had never been so nervous telling someone he was gay before. "It's...a man and I don't even know if he likes men."

Kakashi's heart was pounding in his chest. "I understand why that makes it harder. You'd be surprised how many shinobi would be open to the idea. I've been with men before. Sometimes it's less about gender and more about the person." 

"Thank you for telling me. It makes me feel less alone." The chunin's mind was racing. Could Kakashi...could he possibly feel the same way? He wanted to tell him so badly, but the words died in his throat. 

Kakashi stood. "I'm sure you have a lot to think about. Enjoy the food. I'm leaving in the morning. I'll hopefully be back next week. Have a good evening, sensei. And remember you have friends that will listen."

"Goodnight and thank you again." Iruka felt lighter as Kakashi disappeared. Maybe things could get better. 

***

Things couldn't be worse. Kakashi sighed as he kicked his shoes off. He was glad Iruka wasn't upset, but the whole exchange had made him feel worse. He headed though the dark apartment to his bedroom, flopping face first into his bed. 

"This doesn't look promising, pup. I take it things didn't go well with your teacher?" Pakkun asked as he jumped on to to the bed.

"He's in love with someone else." Came Kakashi's muffled response. He sounded absolutely miserable. 

The ninken sighed heavily. What was he going to do with him? "Did he actually say that? Did you even tell him how you felt?"

Kakashi turned his face, so he could stare at the pug. "He told about the dream he had while in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He was married to someone and when he woke up, he realized he had feelings for them." He cringed as he remembered his weak attempt to share with Iruka. He told him he'd been with men, but had been too much of a coward to tell him the only one he wanted was the chunin. 

"So I'll take that as a no. You chickened out on telling him you like him." Pakkun rolled his eyes. Kakashi was hopeless and he told the human as much.

Kakashi took a swipe at the dog, but he just jumped off the bed. "Let's see how hopeless I am when you want something out of the fridge."

"I'll ask Bull," Pakkun called out as he left Kakashi to his misery. 

The jounin rolled over onto his back and stared at the dark ceiling. Things had changed for him after the war as well. He'd finally put Obito's death behind him. He wished he'd known his friend was alive, but he was at peace now. He'd even started to forgive himself for killing Rin.

For once in his life, Kakashi was ready to live for himself. Not for the Hatake name. Not for the village. Not for his dead friends. He wanted to live for himself and that meant he didn't want to be alone anymore. The one person he'd ever really wanted for himself was slipping through his fingertips. 

Iruka was everything he wasn't: kind, loving, compassionate. He was a man that Kakashi knew would love him despite his past and his name. It would kill him to see him with another man, but he'd did anything to made sure he never saw Iruka as broken as he had been the night before. Even if it meant supporting him being with someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting a little early this week because I will be out of town for my anniversary, so you get a new chapter today. Yay. I will try to get chapter 4 up this weekend. Thank you for all the comments and kudos. This was my first attempt at posting a story with these two and the response has been so good. I was not expecting it.


	4. Never Drink with a Chunin

The next week went much better for Iruka. The partial confession to Kakashi had eased his burden. He even wondered if he had a chance with the jounin. He was still sore because of all the hard labor, so he had picked up a few shifts at the mission desk. Izumo and Kotetsu had been happy to see him. 

He'd even let Kotetsu convince him to go out with them on Saturday night. Now that the weekend was there, he wondered if he could back out of the plans. Kotetsu and alcohol never ended well for Iruka. He groaned as he realized he couldn't ditch them. These were the first solid plans they'd had in months. 

Iruka dug through his closest, dejected. It was a shinobi bar, but he didn't feel like wearing his uniform. He settled for a tight black shirt and some dark pants. With his hair up in its usual ponytail, he headed out to meet his friends. 

They hadn't gotten to talk much at the mission desk. Their shifts hadn't overlapped and they'd only seen Iruka in passing. He knew they'd want to know what he'd been up to. 

The bar was still fairly empty. It was more popular with the younger shinobi crowd since it had a small dance floor and decent music. Iruka would have been much happier in one of the dive bars the older shinobi tended to stick to. He shouldn't have let Kotetsu pick the bar. 

Said chunin waved him down as soon as he walked through the door. Iruka smiled at his friends. They were crazy, but they were his. Izumo had already started in on the beer that was in front of him. Kotetsu had six shots lined up in the middle of the table. Iruka had a bad feeling about this night out. 

"I want you to know that I had noting to do with this." Izumo told him as he sat down. 

"Shut up, Izumo." Kotetsu hissed from across the table.  

Iruka looked at both of them. "What's going on?" 

Kotetsu grinned at his friend. "So Izumo and I discussed how long it'd been since we've seen you. We want to catch up, so I thought it'd be fun if we made it a game."

"Uh huh..." Iruka said, unconvinced. "And this game involves shots?"

The other chunin grinned broadly. "Of course. So we're going to ask some questions so we can all catch up. Now, if you don't want to answer a question," he slid a shot across the table to Iruka, "then you get to do a shot."

Iruka looked at Izumo, who just shrugged. "Right...so what exactly do you want to know?"

"There's a rumor going around that you've been spending time with a certain joun-" Iruka didn't let his friend finish before he took the first shot. "I didn't even get to the question."

"I know, but I feel like I'm going to need it." The teacher downed a second shot. "Continue."

"Fine. Are you dating Kakashi Hatake?" Kotetsu slid another shot to the out man. 

"W-what? No." Iruka knew he was blushing furiously. 

"Do you want to?" The other chunin watched Iruka downed the third shot. No way was he explaining everything to them. 

"Leave him alone, Kotetsu." Izumo finished his beer. "Come on, Iruka. Let's ditch my annoying boyfriend and dance."

"Hey!" Kotetsu called after them. Izumo ignored him as he led Iruka away from the table. The bar had picked up a bit, so they weren't the only ones getting up to dance. 

"I'm really sorry about, Ruka. He's gotten in his head that you've been ditching us for Kakashi." 

Iruka wanted to groan. "It wasn't that. I've just been having a rough few months and Kakashi has been a good friend."

Izumo patted him on the back. "Things have been crazy for everyone. I just think Kotetsu was worried you didn't want to be friends with us anymore."

The teacher looked down at the ground. Had he really been neglecting his friends that much? He really need to make more time for them. "Come on. Let's dance and make Kotetsu jealous." Iruka laughed because he knew his friend with never be jealous of him spending time with Izumo. 

Iruka decided to just let loose and enjoy the night. Kotetsu told him he wouldn't ask anymore questions and they finished off the shots, then ordered another round. He danced with them both and just had fun for once. 

It was late by the time the three of them stumbled out of the bar. They'd decided it was time to go when Kotetsu almost face planted into one of the speakers. His boyfriend was currently helping him stay upright. "Rukie, I think you should take your shot with the copy nin. He's hot, you're hot. It's a win win." Izumo was trying to keep the other man quiet and failing. He gave Iruka an apologetic look. 

Iruka might have been embarrassed if he wasn't so drunk as well. He was enjoying the cool air and the level of his drunkenness. Even Kotetsu and his loud mouth couldn't bring him down. 

"Will you be okay getting home? Maybe you should come with us." Izumo suggested as they made their way home. They didn't live far apart, but he was worried about his friend. 

"I'll be fine. It's not far. Besides, you know what happened last time I went home drunk with you two." 

His response made Izumo blush. "Right. Get home safely." The drunk chunins went their separate ways unaware of a pair of dark eyes that followed them.

Iruka made it to his door before he realized he was being followed. He'd assumed he was safe in the village, so his guard was lowered. That, combined with the alcohol, made him oblivious to the man following. A man who decided it was time to make himself know. "Good evening, sensei."

The teacher gasped and dropped his keys. He swung around, trying to face his opponent. Instead, he tripped over his own feet. Strong hands caught him before he could fall against his front door. "Easy there."

Iruka blinded as he drunkenly stared up into a pair of dark eyes. "Kakashi? What are you doing here? It's late. You fucking scared me."

Kakashi snorted. "Such language. I was out for a stroll and saw you stumbling home. What kind of person would I be of I didn't make sure the village's best sensei got home safely?"

"That's a lie." The chunin stabbed his finger into Kakashi's chest. "Who takes a stroll this late at night?"

So it was less a stroll and more following the teacher. He'd gotten home from his mission just as Iruka was heading out. He'd just wanted to make sure he was okay after their last conversion. It was just a shame he'd had to keep a distance and couldn't overhear Iruka and his friends. "Did you have fun?"

"So much fun. Haven't had this much fun in ages. Even though Kotetsu tried to find out about my sex life." He chuckled to himself. Nothing much to tell there.

Kakashi froze. Was one of those men...the one Iruka was in love with? "Are you love with one of them?" He winced as the words came out. He had no right to ask that.

The chunin laughed heartily. "Kotetsu and Izumo? Oh fuck no. They've been dating forever. It's not them I dream about." He swayed a bit, but Kakashi kept him steady. 

A weight lifted from the jounin's chest. Not them then. "Who is it then, Ruka-kun? Hmm? Are you in love with me?" He tried to bury his pain under the joke. 

"Yes." Iruka said, surprising them both. 

The silver haired man was so shocked he almost let Iruka fall back against the door. "What?"

"It's always been you. Stupid Kakashi Hatake. Perfect jounin who could never want me." He dropped his head, body sagging with the confession. 

"Iruka...I...." Before he could say anything, the other man pulled away from him, slumping against the door and it's frame. 

"Please, just go. I don't want to hear your rejection tonight." It had been such a good night. Why had he followed him home? 

"No. I'm not leaving again." The chunin looked up, confused by Kakashi's firm refusal. He watched as he started to pull down his mask. By force of habit, he closed his eyes. Then Kakashi's mouth covered his. 

Iruka moaned into his mouth. He was kissing the actual copy nin. His heart felt like it was going to burst. The kiss ended far too soon for him. Then he was staring at the jounin's bare face. His scar went down further than he thought and he had a cute little beauty mark next to his mouth. His face was slightly different than his dream, but he was still breathtaking. 

He pulled Kakashi against him for another kiss. When their lips touched, he though he'd died and this was some wonderful afterlife. But then Kakashi deepened the kiss, grounding him in reality. Iruka's hand found its way to the other man's silver hair. It was softer than it looked. He buried his hand in it, making the jounin moan into his mouth. 

Iruka's teeth brushed against the copy nin's soft lips. He nipped at them, then ran his tongue of over the spot. "Fuck, Ruka." Kakashi tried to pull back to think about what they were doing, but Iruka tightened his grip on his hair, making him gasp. The chunin took this opportunity to slip his tongue into his mouth. 

The teacher shamelessly ground his erection against Kakashi's lithe body. He'd never wanted anyone more. He made a soft noise of protest when Kakashi pushed him back against the door, breaking the kiss. "We should stop, Iruka."

"Why? We both want this." Iruka ran his hand over the bulge in the other man's pants. 

Kakashi shuddered. As much as he wanted to press into that hand, they needed to stop. "You're drunk, Iruka. Why don't we have this conversation again tomorrow? If you still want to continue, we can."

The chunin was silent for a long while. Finally, he gripped Kakashi's vest tightly and said, "Stay. Please don't go. We don't have to do anything, but please don't go."

How could he leave when Iruka asked like that? "I'll stay if you behave." Kakashi said, softly. 

Iruka let go of his vest confident that the jounin wouldn't disappear on him. He bent down to pick up his keys and let them in to his dark apartment. He grabbed Kakashi's hand leading him to his bedroom, which earned him a look. "Just for sleeping. I promise. Stay with me, Kashi."

Kakashi kissed him gently. "I'm not going anywhere." This seemed to appease the other man, who started to undress. Kami, give him the strength to resist one drunken chunin. 

Iruka stripped to his underwear and turned to Kakashi. "You can't sleep in that." He reached for his vest, intending to undress him. 

"I think I can handle this, sensei. Get into bed. I'll join you shortly." Iruka only protested a bit before he crawled into bed. He watched Kakashi undress with dark, hungry eyes. The jounin let his vest drop to the ground. Next, he removed his gloves, letting them fall next to the vest. He kicked his sandals off, as he pulled his shirt over his head. He felt like he was putting on a show as he slowly undid his leg bindings. He left the uniform pants on as a precaution. 

Iruka watched him approach the bed. He pulled back the covers, inviting the other man to join him. Kakashi slid in next to him. The chunin snuggled up next to him, resting his head on his pale chest. 

Iruka let his hand wander over the exposed flesh. He had a lot of scars, but it did nothing to take away from the beauty of him. "Am I dreaming, Kakashi?"

His question was met with soft laughter. "No, you're not, Iruka." He stroked the chunin's back until he fell asleep. He held the other man close and hoped he'd still be wanted in the morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! This is a short chapter, but I had to break up a much larger chapter and this spot made the most sense to do the chapter break.


	5. Temptation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? A third chapter! I was going to wait to post this, but I hate waiting, so here you go.

The first thing Iruka noticed when he woke up was how warm he was. The second was that he was being held. He was fully awake in an instant and staring into the bare face of Kakashi Hatake. The other man gave him a sleepy smile. "Good morning."

He had to admit last night was a bit of a blur. He vaguely recalled telling Kakashi the truth and the kiss. Oh Kami, the other man knew how to kiss. He felt heat rise up to his face. "Remembering last night, hmm?"

"I need to use the restroom." Iruka was 100% okay with being a coward in that moment. He could hide in the bedroom and figure out what to say to him. His heart was pounding as he shut the door behind him. He really did have to pee, so it wasn't fully a lie. But once that was done, he still couldn't leave. 

What was he going to tell him? Kakashi was interested or he wouldn't have stayed, right? Iruka remembered begging him to stay and groaned. He also recalled being pressed against a door and thoroughly kissed. His traitorous body began to react to that memory. He definitely couldn't face him now!

He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His hair was only half in the ponytail. He looked like he'd been ravaged. The teacher was fairly certain they hadn't had sex. He pulled the hair tie out and began to brush his hair. Pale skin flashed through his mind, bring his erection back to life. He'd just gotten his mind of off sex. 

Iruka groaned and grabbed his toothbrush. He needed more time to calm down. Why had he worn so little to bed? Pants would have helped hide his current predicament. He was more mentally prepared when he finished brushing his teeth. 

He hesitated for a moment before he opened the door and headed back to the bedroom. He half expected Kakashi to be gone, a figment dreamed up by his loneliness. But he was still there, sprawled out in Iruka's bed. The blanket stopped at his pale waist and Iruka wondered if he was naked. 

The chunin flushed red and headed to the other side of the bed. He dragged his pillow into his lap as he sat down. Laying down felt too intimate, so he sat with he back half facing the silver haired man.

Kakashi quietly slipped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Iruka was relieved to see he was wearing pants. He half remembered groping him outside his front door. He could only imagine how handsy he would have been with the other man naked in his bed. 

Kakashi rejoined him after a few minutes. He chose to lay back down, his head just a few inches from Iruka's hip. The teacher could feel his warm breath on his bare skin. It made him shiver. "Tell me everything, Iruka. Tell me about the dream."

"Most of it is vague memories, but I remember our wedding, our first kiss, the first time we..." Iruka paused, not wanting to say the words. "And then I woke up and it was all gone. I was okay at first, but then we started spending more time together. I stared dreaming of us more and more." He gripped the pillow in his lap, tightly as he was overcome with emotion. 

"And last week?" Kakashi wanted to know what had caused the younger man so much distress. 

"Kakashi-" Iruka started to protest. 

"All of it, Iruka. I need to hear it all."

Iruka hung his head, defeated. "Last week, I realized I was in love with you. Not with the idea of you or a dream, just you. And I thought I'd never have you." His voice was thick with emotion and unshed tears. 

The jounin moved closer, wrapping his arm around the other man, and pressed his face into his side. "You have me, Ruka. I'm right here."

"Kashi..." Iruka couldn't believe he was really here, that he wanted him. 

"Look, I can't guarantee I'll be a great partner. I'm always late. I have a pack of crazy ninken and am pretty much certifiable myself. I read porn in public. I've lost a lot of people over the years, so I'm not the best at opening up. I can't be the man of your dreams, but I will do anything in my power to make sure you never cry like that again." Kakashi placed soft kisses on his hip and back as he spoke. He wanted Iruka to understand how much he wanted to be here. "It nearly broke my heart when you said you were in love with someone."

The chunin sat in stunned silence. This whole time he'd felt the same way? The tears did begin to fall now. How could he have been so blind? "I don't want the dream Kakashi. I want you."

"And I want you. There's one more thing I need to know." Kakashi told him as he shifted closer. "Was dream Kakashi a top or a bottom? I need to know what expectations I have to live up to." 

Really, Iruka should have expected this. He tried to glare at him, but Kakashi was firmly pressed against his back. "You are the worst. Why do I even like you?"

This made the other man chuckle. "I told you I needed to know it all, Ruka-kun."

He blushed at the pet name. "Both if you must know."

Kakashi smiled against his skin. He had worked his way up to bottom of Iruka's scar. He kissed along his scarred spine. "I've never bottomed before. My partners always wanted me on top, but I have certain toys I enjoy fucking myself with."

The teacher shivered at his words. His body was starting to react and he was very grateful for the pillow in his lap. 

"I bet I would enjoy being taken by you, sensei." He ran his tongue up the sensitive scar, stopping between Iruka's shoulder blades. "I know making love to you would be better than any ramen." He whispered against the other man's throat. 

Iruka moaned softly. He suddenly felt like he was out of his depth. Kakashi was driving him crazy with just a few kisses. How would be even survive sex with him?

Kakashi nuzzled his throat. "Drunk Iruka knew exactly what he wanted last night. Tell me what you want."

His answer was the loud grumbling of Iruka's stomach. They broke apart, laughing. "Sober Iruka is starving apparently." He said, embarrassed by the timing of his body. 

"I would love some real food. We pushed hard the last few days to get home early." Kakashi fell back onto the comfortable bed. His bed was lumpy and hard. This one was like sleeping on clouds. "Would it be okay if I used your shower?"

"Of course. I have some clothes you can borrow too if you need some." The younger man took the opportunity to slip out of bed and head over to his dresser. He kept his back to the bed as he pulled on a pair of pants. He tried to hide his very obvious arousal. 

"Will you come wash my back, Ruka?" And maybe a few other places, he added mentally. It was then that Iruka gave him THE look. The one that could stop an entire pre-genin class in their tracks. It also worked fairly well on jounin with terrible mission reports. Kakashi felt his heart start to race. That look did something entirely else to him. 

Iruka finished getting dressed, pulling a shirt on. "I'm going to see what I can make for breakfast. Enjoy your shower."

Kakashi lounged in bed a bit longer. He was in Iruka's bed. He wanted to savor that feeling. With a sigh, he finally pushed himself to get up. He dug through his discarded clothes to find his equipment scroll, which contained a clean set of clothes. 

The mission had been easy enough. In and out scroll delivery, but it'd been a day and a half since they stopped and cleaned up, so the shower was needed. He made a soft noise of contentment as the warm water hit his skin. Hot showers after missions were a secret indulgence of his. 

He sniffed Iruka's shampoo. It was lightly scented, but not unpleasant. His thoughts wandered to the chunin and to last night. The confession. Kami, how he wished he still had the Sharingan, so he could have recorded the look of wanton lust on Iruka's face after they had kissed. 

He felt his body begin to stir at the thought. He would only ever admit to himself that he often thought of the teacher when he masturbated. How many times had he come moaning his name? "Fuck." Kakashi was working himself up and he couldn't touch himself Iruka's shower, right? 

He imagined the look on Iruka's face if he caught him. The thought made the jounin groan. He'd been so good the night before. He wanted this to be the other man's decision, but that didn't make his body want him any less. His hand inched closer to his aching cock.

A soft knock on the door made him freeze in place. "Kakashi?" Iruka opened the door a bit. "I forgot there are no towels in here."

"You can come in." Kakashi moved his hand away from the temptation of touching himself. 

Iruka hesitated a moment. "The shower curtain is kind of see through..."

"Then I guess you'll get a free show, sensei." It must be a deep biological need of his to push the other man because he loved it. 

Iruka's face was red as he pushed open the door to deliver the towel. He tried not to look, but he was no saint and Kakashi had basically told him to. The curtain hid most of him, but he could see the outline of the jounin's trim body. 

Kami, he was gorgeous. The teacher let his eyes wander down until he saw the other man's arousal. With as hard as he was blushing you'd think he'd never had a naked man in his shower before. 

Iruka realized he'd been standing there too long when he heard the shower turn off. He was caught off guard when Kakashi pushed the curtain aside, seemingly looking surprised that Iruka was still there. "I...uh...I need to finish breakfast." He turned quickly to leave. 

"Iruka." Kakashi called after him. "The towel?"

The chunin cursed under his breath as he realized the towel was still in his hands. He thrust the towel at Kakashi, not daring to look at him. He fled the confines of the bathroom as soon as he took the towel. 

Iruka didn't stop until he was safely back in the kitchen. Fuck, why did he have to be so sexy? His hands shook as he finished preparing the eggs and rice. He really needed to get some groceries. It would be an easy out after breakfast, but did he really want the other man to go? 

"Smells good." Kakashi came padding into the kitchen barefoot and thankfully dressed. He hadn't bothered to re-wrap his leg or grab his vest. 

The younger man flushed when he saw his bare face. That was going to take some getting use to. "Just eggs and rice. I'm pretty low on groceries." He served up two plates and set them on the table.

Kakashi watched him move around the small kitchen. "It's still nice." He thought about the last meal they'd shared at this table. This was a much more enjoyable experience. "You look nice with your hair down."

Iruka reached up to touch his hair. "Working with pre-genins teaches you to cut it or put it up really quickly." The compliment made him smile though. "Yours is so soft." He admitted quietly as he sat down. 

The quiet comment made the jounin blush. Kakashi felt like a kid with his first crush. He didn't know how to respond, so they ate in peaceful silence. "I have to report in and I promise to attend my very not important meeting with the council today. I can come back by after that, if you want."

"I'm glad, but I hope you aren't just doing it for me." Iruka said as he cleared the table of dishes.

"Well, I don't want to disappoint my boyfriend." His smile was a bit devious and it stirred things in the teacher. 

"Is that what I am?" Boyfriend of Kakashi Hatake. It made him grin. "I think Kotetsu talked me into helping with a project in the missions room tonight. Something about relabeling the file system during the slower hours. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. He will be an absolute pain if I don't go. But maybe you can come over after? I'm just helping for a few hours."

"I mean I hope this means we're dating." Kakashi knew he had to go, but it was hard pulling himself away from Iruka. He stood and closed the distance between them. "I don't want to leave you." He admitted, cupping the other man's face in his scarred hand. He needed one more kiss before he had to face his responsibilities.

The kiss was soft and loving. It went straight to Iruka's head, leaving him dizzy and breathless. The kisses last night had been hot and needy. They had done things to his body. But this kiss did things to his heart. 

“I need one more thing from you before we make this official.” Kakashi let his hand fall away from the other man’s soft cheek.

“Do I even want to ask what that is?” The younger man said, laughing. He already missed Kakashi’s touch.

“You have to be the one to tell Naruto. No way am I telling him I’m dating his most precious person.” The jounin’s words made the teacher blush furiously. That was all he could seem to do around him.

***

Too soon, Kakashi had to finish getting ready and depart. In less that 12 hours, both of their lives changed. Iruka knew he was distracted and grinning too much as he shopped, but he didn't care. Kakashi was his. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops. 

Even the thought of hours of mind numbing filling couldn't damper his mood. Kotetsu was suspicious when he arrived. "How are you in such a good mood? I'm still hung over."

Iruka dismissed him with a shrug. "Just a good day, I suppose. Izumo warned you not to drink so much. You knew you had a shift today."

The chunin groaned. "Stop it. I've a already heard it all day from him. At least you get to stay back here and file. I've had to deal with grouchy jounin all day." He handed Iruka a stack of scrolls that needed to be re-filled.

"You're lucky I even came in today." I could have been with my new boyfriend, he added to himself. "Don't you need to go back and deal with some more grouchy people?"

Kotetsu gave him a withering look. "They've been like this since the war ended. And the heat isn't helping." He figured he'd delayed the inevitable long enough and headed back out to the desk. 

His boredom was cut short when Kakashi came in a bit later. Things were always interesting when he was around. He watched the jounin make a beeline for him. "Is Iruka-sensei still here?"

The chunin's face lit up in a grin. So Hatake-san was seeking out his Ruka-kun...interesting. "He's in the back. Let me get him for you."

Iruka knew something was up when he saw Kotetsu's face. That look always meant he was up to something. "Want to tell me why Kakashi Hatake is at the missions desk asking for you?"

The teacher ignored his friend's question and headed out to find the jounin. He was no longer at the desk. Instead, he was leaning against a wall as far away from everyone as he could get.

"I don't have a lot of time." He told Iruka as he approached. "A situation came up. I have to leave now." Kakashi shouldn't had even come here. He should be at home grabbing his gear. 

Iruka tried to remain calm. He knew the jounin could be called away at any time, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon. "Be safe." He desperately wanted to tell him to come home to him, but that was not a promise any shinobi could truly make.

"I have to go." Kakashi had forgotten how much it hurt to have to say goodbye, knowing he may not come back. He hesitated for a moment. 

"Kiss me." Iruka had seen the hesitation. He could give him this before he went. He didn't care about the others in the room. He wanted Kakashi to know he loved him. The kiss was passionate and short. And then he was gone. 

The teacher made his way across the now silent room. He didn't care that they stared. There was no way he'd change that moment. The filling room was blissfully private. He couldn't let them see him break down. He had a moment to compose himself before Kotetsu burst into the room.

"What was that, Iruka? Why did you lie to me?" The chunin demanded to know. 

"When did I lie to you?" Iruka asked calmly, as he went back to filing. 

"Last night apparently. What happened to ‘no you're not dating and have no chance with him’?" He crossed his arms over his chest. Just wait until he told Izumo. 

His friend sighed. "I didn't lie. It was true last night." He frowned at the almost illegible handwriting on the outside of the next scroll. 

Kotetsu looked flabbergasted. "Are you telling me in less than 24 hours you hooked up with Hatake, are now dating him, and making out in the missions room?"

"One, we didn't hook up. Two, if that's what you call making out, I feel sorry for Izumo. He was called away suddenly." Iruka thrust a scroll at him. "Now, if you're going to be back here HELP." 

The chunin took the scroll gingerly. He mustered up an apology and he took the first opportunity he had to leave the room. He felt bad for making a big deal out of it, but he knew it was best to let Iruka get over his anger. 

He was happy to see Kotetsu leave, but it left him alone with his thoughts. He closed his eyes and did something he rarely did. "Please, Kami, let him come home safety," he prayed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *eyes the mature rating on the story* Yeah...that may change...


	6. Sweet Homecomings

It had been almost two weeks since Kakashi had kissed him in the mission’s room. Two long, agonizing weeks with no word from the other man. Iruka wasn't even sure how long the mission was supposed to last. It had left the chunin on edge. He was supposed to be working on lessons since the academy would be back in session soon. Instead, he'd been staring at his work for an hour. 

Izumo and Kotetsu had been checking in on him since the jounin's departure. He and Kotetsu had made up from their slight fight in the filling room. They'd kept him from going totally insane with worry. 

He sighed and put away his unfinished lesson plans. "Where are you, Kakashi?" He knew he shouldn't let himself focus on the negatives. Kakashi was the next Hokage, the copy nin. He'd been on hundreds of missions. He would come home safely. 

Brooding at home was getting him nowhere. He needed out of the apartment. It was a nice evening for a walk. Hopefully, it would clear his mind. He'd just started to stand when there was a frantic knock at his door. 

"Coming!" The knocking became louder and more insistent as he approached the front door. His mind of course went to a worst case scenario, but he pushed that aside as he opened the door.   

He was met with an angry looking Anko. "I leave for a month to deal with a mission and I come back to rumors that you and Kakashi were seen making out in the mission’s room! You didn't even have the decency to wait until I was back to see it?!"

"One kiss. It was one kiss. Why does everyone keep saying it was more than that?" Iruka had noticed an increasing number of jounin taking an interest in him since that day. Some whispered to each other as he passed by, others blatantly stared, some even flirted. Jounins loved good gossip. 

"When the fuck did any kissing become normal for you and him?" She brushed by Iruka, not bothering for an invitation inside. "I'm going to need details."

The chunin thought about arguing, but that tended to end poorly for him, so he just closed the front door instead, resigned to his fate. He followed after Anko, who made herself right at home on his couch. "I'm dying to know if he's good in the sack."

Why did he attract all the crazy, perverted shinobi? "We didn't make it that far. He was called away on an urgent mission." He joined her on the couch. "But he did spend the night."

Anko's face lit up in a mischievous grin. "Details, Ruka. Details!" She grabbed one of the pillows of he couch and smacked him with it. "You can't just say that and not tell me everything." 

She managed to land another blow before Iruka snatched the pillow out of her hands. "Dammit, Anko. Don't hit me with my own pillows." She was lucky she was one of his best friends. He'd been too embarrassed by his drunken confession to tell Izumo and Kotetsu the whole story. But he knew the purple haired woman would get it out of him one way or another. 

"So if I bring my own pillow, I can hit you?" Anko just grinned at Iruka as he glared at her. "Tell me."

"You're such a child." He decided to go the easy route and just tell her everything. Anko pretty much knew everything about him anyways. "I know you noticed I was really down the last few months. I, uh, was having dreams about the Infinite Tsukuyomi." They didn't talk much about the war, not after what Anko went through. "I was married to Kakashi in the dream world and I woke up and it was all so confusing, then I realized I had feelings for him."

"Oh, Ruka. You should have told me." Anko had tried several times to pry it out of him, but she'd spent so much time out of the village after the war. 

"I know you don't like talking about the war and I didn't want to burden anyone with it." Instead, he'd let himself fall into despair. "Kakashi had started spending more time with me. He also saw something was wrong. I eventually told him some of it, leaving out the part that it was him in the dream."

Iruka always wrote his heart in his sleeve. That's one thing she loved about him. "You know you can talk to me about anything, even if it's something that's hard for me. Don't ever feel like I'm not here for you." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. 

"Thanks, Anko. I know I can. It's been a rough few months." But waking up to Kakashi had made his heart soar. "Then I went out drinking with Kotetsu and Izumo and drunkenly confessed my love to him." He winced as he remembered how bitter he'd been telling the jounin how he felt. 

"Well, you know you shouldn't drink with those two. At least you didn't go home with them. Though I did love hearing about it last time."

"Anko!" Iruka knew he was blushing. He'd been drunk when he'd told Anko that story. He decided he should never drink again. "He spent the night, and no, nothing happened. Then, he got called away."

"Are you telling me you had Kakashi Hatake in your bed and you didn't take a peek?" She laughed when Iruka blushed more and looked away. Kami, he was easy to read. "I knew it! Did you see all the goods?"

"You are terrible and I might have... in passing." He knew he shouldn't encourage her lecherous ways, but he had missed her a lot.

Anko squealed in delight. "Yes, you did. When he gets home, you had better seal the deal or I'll never forgive you, Ruka. Now, we should go get dango to celebrate you actually having a boyfriend. I'll pay since we're celebrating this small miracle."

Iruka launched the pillow at her. "Fuck you, Anko. Me possibly getting to sleep with someone is not a miracle. Maybe you should focus on your own sex life." 

"My sex life is great. I have a new partner who has some potential. It's on the down low for now, but trust me, you'll be the first one to get all the info once I can share." Iruka was used to hearing about her conquests. Which was why he knew waaaay too much about the sexual desires of several jounin. "After dango you can tell me all about sexy, naked Kakashi."

Iruka groaned. She was like a ninken on the trail of a missing nin. She would never give up. He would let get buy him dango and for a while he'd forget how worried he was about Kakashi. 

***

Anko had ran him ragged. After dango, she'd convinced him to train for a while. He'd gotten his ass handed to him, but it'd kept his mind off of worrying so much. He'd promised her they'd have lunch soon. He'd changed and passed out almost as soon he'd gotten home. 

The dreams about Kakashi had pretty much stopped after he'd told him the truth. Waking up next to him had been better than he could ever imagine. No dream could compare to the real thing. Iruka wasn't sure if he was dreaming or awake at first when he felt the bed dip behind him. Strong arms pulled him close. 

Kakashi buried his face in Iruka's hair, breathing deeply. He was home. He had considered going to his own apartment, but he had to see him, had to make sure he was okay. The mission hadn't exactly gone off without a hitch. The missing nin had been stronger than expected. 

"Kashi?" Iruka was still half asleep as he snuggled closer to the other man's warmth. 

"I missed you, Ruka." The copy nin pressed a small kiss to the chunin's throat. "I came home for you."

The teacher turned in his arms, making the other man wince. "Are you hurt?" He was fully awake in an instead. "Did you get checked out at the hospital?"

"It's nothing. Just some bruised ribs. They wouldn't be able to do much for me." Kakashi knew this was the wrong answer when the chunin punched his shoulder. The hit didn't hurt, but he still complained. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to hit injured shinobi."

"I'm pretty sure I get to knock some sense into my stupid boyfriend." Iruka unzipped said stupid boyfriend's vest and pushed his shirt up. Dark bruises littered his torso. Thank goodness he knew some healing jutsu. He put his hands over the worst bruise and got to work. 

Kakashi watched him work for a while. It became easier to breathe and he could probably now move without wincing. "Thank you. I don't deserve such a kind, loving partner."

Iruka rolled his eyes. "Next time, go to the hospital." He ran his hands over his chest and abdomen searching for other injuries. The bruises seemed to be the worst of it. 

"I got somewhere else you can check for injuries, healer Ruka." The other man's careful examination had stirred things in him. He pulled him down for a kiss. 

The chunin considered not giving in and kissing him. He really shouldn't reward such a lewd comment, but then his mouth was on his. Kami, Kakashi really knew how to kiss. He was pressed against his bared skin, letting his hands wander up to the jounin's chest as they kissed. 

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" Kakashi buried his hand in Iruka's hair, grateful that it wasn't in its normal ponytail. Two weeks stuck with other shinobi. Two weeks wanting the other man. Two weeks of needing some kind of release. To say he was hard and aching was very much an understatement. 

Iruka moaned into Kakashi's mouth when the jounin's hand tightened the grip in his hair. He could barely think past the sheer amount of want and longing. "Kashi." He sounded needy, but he didn't care. He did need the other man.

His eyes fluttered closed as the copy nin worked his way down to his throat. Fuck, another weakness of his. The other man seemed to find them all so easily. He was like putty in his hands. His moans increased in volume as Kakashi sucked at the sensitive flesh. He cried out his name when he gently bit down. 

Iruka was a shuddering mess when Kakashi pulled back. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down his pounding heart. The jounin looked thoroughly pleased with himself and the effect he had on him. He wanted to wipe the smug look off of his face. 

Kakashi's only warning was when the chunin pushed his shirt up farther. Then the younger man was moving down his body. He kissed his pale chest, tongue leaving warm, wet lines behind. It was the jounin's turn to groan in pleasure. It didn't help that this new position basically put Iruka between his legs. 

He was used to being the one in control. He was always the one on top, the one directing things, but this was a nice change. He didn't have to tell the chunin where he was allowed to touch. He could lay there and bare himself to the other man. He'd never trusted anyone like this before. 

"Can you take this off?" Iruka tugged at Kakashi's shirt. 

The jounin had never removed his vest and uniform shirt faster, even with Iruka still half on top of him. The look that he received from the teacher went straight to his groin. When Iruka fully climbed on top of him, he lost the ability to think about anything other than his lover, who slowly removed his own shirt. Tanned flesh filled his vision. How had he gotten lucky enough to be in Iruka's bed for a second time? 

He hadn't had time to really admire his body last time. Iruka had passed out and then had practically ran from him in the morning. Kakashi had gotten to tease him from behind, but now he got to take in his chest and broad shoulders. He was in good shape for a teacher who rarely left the village. 

Kakashi started to sit up, wanting to kiss that sinful flesh, but he found himself pushed back down into the bed. "You came home to me, but you skipped the hospital, so you get to lay there and be a good patient. Keep your hands to yourself or else." The jounin swallowed hard and moved his hands away from his tempting boyfriend. He'd used his teacher voice on him. The jounin knew he shouldn't get so turned on by it, but fuck it was sexy. 

He watched Iruka ran his hands down his pale chest. The other man traced his scars with his soft fingers, then dipped down to trace them with his tongue. Fuck, he wanted to grab him, pin him down, but instead he made a fist, nails digging into his palms. He didn't want to ruin this moment. The chunin had been clear about the rules of this little game. His resolve nearly shattered though when Iruka's hot, wet tongue flicked across his nipple. 

Iruka was emboldened by the sounds he was getting Kakashi to make. He scraped his teeth over his sensitive flesh, then bit down gently. He felt the jounin roll his hips, pressing his hardness against his body as he cried out. "Ruka, please." Fuck, he had the copy nin begging underneath him. He wanted him to scream his name.

Dark eyes followed him as he moved down Kakashi's body. He heard the other man inhale sharply as he settled between his legs. Iruka looked up at him as he slowly undid the jounin's pants. Now that he could see his bare face, he wanted to savor his expressions and blatant lust. He tugged the fabric out of the way, freeing his cock.

Kakashi swore when Iruka softly stroked him. He had been tortured more than once, but this was the closest he'd ever been to breaking. The teacher was taking great pleasure in teasing him endlessly. A soft hand gripped his base, as Iruka moved to take him into his mouth. No matter how many times he'd imagined this moment, none of them did the real thing justice. 

The younger man was making lewd noises as he took him deeper into his mouth. Kakashi was not exactly small, but he seemed to have no problem with the length or girth. His naughty sensei. He grabbed at the sheets to stop himself from grabbing the other man's hair. He wanted to grab him and fuck his warm, welcoming mouth. 

Iruka used his hand to stroke Kakashi's length as he sucked on the sensitive tip. The jounin was practically sobbing in pleasure. His moans increased in volume as he took him deeper. It had been a long time since he'd been with someone as endowed as Kakashi. He had to be careful not to gag himself in his length, but it was worth it when he writhed under him. 

Iruka's name became the only thing Kakashi could say. He cried his name out over and over again. Months of longing tanked his stamina. He tried to warn the younger man. He wanted to last longer for him, but it'd been weeks since he'd had any kind of release and Iruka was far too good at this for him to hold out. Soon, he was coming in his mouth, almost sobbing with relief. 

The teacher felt Kakashi tense up and knew he'd pushed him too far. He'd intended to draw out their fun, but he was thoroughly satisfied with himself when he looked up at the copy nin. He was panting heavily, eyes closed, silver hair a mess. He was a pale, beautiful sight to behold. 

Kakashi stirred a bit as he moved to lay next to him. He pulled Iruka closer, burying his face in the curve of his throat. "I think I'm the one dreaming now." The chunin laughed at his words. "You shouldn't laugh at your boyfriend after you utterly wreck him."

Iruka stroked his back, feeling more content than he had in years. "I wanted to draw it out more, but that can wait until your rested and fully healed."

"I feel like I held out very well since it's been over two weeks since I uh..." Kakashi trailed off as he remembered the last time he'd masturbated. His fantasies had involved Iruka and the mission's desk. He was glad the chunin couldn't see the faint blush that rose up. 

"Is that embarrassment I hear in your voice? You read porn in public, but talking about orgasms embarrasses you?" The teacher pulled back so he could look at him. "You're blushing like a pre-genin."

Kakashi gave him a grumpy look. "Am not."

"And now you sound like one."

The silver haired nin fought the urge to stick his tongue out at him. His clever retort was cut short by a loud yawn. The last few days caught up to him all at once. "You should get some rest." Iruka told him, placing soft kisses on his jaw. 

"Seems unfair to you to pass out now." Kakashi desperately wanted to return the favor, but another yawn escaped him. 

"You passing out halfway through sexy times sounds much more unfair to me. Knowing you, you're running low on chakra and really need sleep. Now, healer Ruka says get some sleep." 

The copy nin knew he was right. He didn't have it in him to argue. He used the last of his strength to finish undressing. He'd never had a lover tuck him in, but he secretly loved it when Iruka pulled the covers over him, making sure he was comfortable. He was fairly certain he fell asleep with a smile on his face. 

***

Sheer exhaustion kept Kakashi from waking up until early afternoon. Iruka was gone from the bed, but that wasn't surprising given the time of day. A pair of sweatpants were sitting next to him on the bed. It was little things like this that made it impossible for him not to fall in love with his sensei. 

The jounin stared up the ceiling as he realized what thought had just crossed his mind. Love. Was he in love with Iruka? It felt like it was too soon, but he'd spent years dancing around his feelings for the younger man. It was hard not to think back to all the people he'd ever loved...all dead. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sudden heartache. He'd lost everyone he'd ever cared about except Guy. He would not let anything happen to Iruka. 

Kakashi pushed the dark thoughts away and dragged himself out of bed, grabbing the sweatpants Iruka had left for him. He found the chunin hunched over his coffee table, frowning at some paperwork. "You know you have a perfectly good couch, sensei. You don't have to sit on the floor." The jounin flopped down on said couch behind Iruka. 

"It's easier to work down here." The teacher barely looked up at him. He continued to glare down at the stack of paperwork. How did they expect him to fit in all this extra curriculum? Maybe if he cut back on talking about the founding of the village. It took several minutes for him to realize his boyfriend was awake and looking at his lesson plans over his shoulder. "Kakashi! I'm sorry. I was caught up with this." He started to stuff the papers into his bag.

"Maa, it's fine, Ruka. I know the academy is starting back soon. You can't spend all your time with me, unfortunately." Kakashi stretched out on the couch. He'd used up way more chakra than he'd realized last night. Even with all that rest, he still felt exhausted. 

Iruka turned, moving so he has on his knees, facing the couch. "I made breakfast. There's a plate I can heat up for you." He watched as Kakashi lazily moved his hand to stroke his dark hair. "Or you can take up my entire couch and pet me."

"Hmm, I like option two." The jounin buried his hand in the soft locks. "Do you have plans today? Please say they involve us, a bed, and copious amounts of lubrication."

The chunin's laugher filled his ears. Kami, he loved that sound. "Unfortunately, I have a meeting at the academy and a shift at the mission's desk. So those other plans will have to wait."

"Too bad I already turned my report in. I could have visited you at the desk." Kakashi's voice dropped as he leaned in closer. "We could have finished what we started two weeks ago in there."

Iruka pushed him back, down onto the couch and stood. "Oh no. No more mission's room kissing. Do you have any idea how many jounin's propositioned me after that? I made one cry after I tore him a new one."

"Give me names. They can have an 'accident'."

The teacher rolled his eyes and headed to the bedroom to change. He wasn't surprised when Kakashi trailed after him. "The worst was Guy-sensei bursting in a few days after you left to declare how happy he was that I'd stolen the heart of his eternal rival. Then asked to be in our wedding." Kakashi paled, which was an impressive feat for him. He started to response, but Iruka held his hand up to stop him. "No, no. I hadn't gotten to the best part. After he left, I had to take some scrolls to the Hokage, who thanked me for my service to the village and told me dating you should pay at least as much as an A rank mission. Then, she asked me if I planned on making out in her mission's room again, and if so, could she watch?"

The copy nin groaned. "Please say at least some of that is made up?"

"Nope. It was late in the day, so she was a little tipsy. Shizune apologized profusely and I managed to escape more questioning. So please stay far, far away from the desk while I'm on duty." Iruka pulled out a clean uniform and set it on the bed. "You'd think we'd had sex on the desk with how people are acting."

"I wouldn't be opposed to some after hours fun..." The look Kakashi received would have made even the most hardened missing nin reconsider their life choices. "Or I can avoid the mission's room for the rest of my life. Got it." His eyes wandered over the chunin's body as he changed. If only he hadn't been so tired last night. 

Iruka pulled on his uniform shirt and turned to grab his pants. The look Kakashi was giving him went straight to his groin. The copy nin looked like a wild animal, ready to pounce. He his face was flushed as he finished getting dressed. "You're welcome to stay here. Just lock up when you leave."

"I really could use more sleep. Shame I have to be alone in this big bed..." He trailed off, trying to steal a kiss from Iruka, who was trying to put his hair up. 

"If you make a mess in my bed, you'd better clean it up." He gave the other man a chaste kiss before pulling away to head to the bathroom. 

"Aww come on. That was barely a peck! That just wants to make me do lots of naughty things in your bed!" Kakashi called after the chunin. 

Iruka shook his head, smiling to himself. He made sure his hair looked okay and brushed his teeth. When he headed back to the bedroom, Kakashi was pouting on the bed. He closed the distance between them, tipped his head up, and gave him a proper kiss. "If you wait, I'll be here to do naughty things with you in the bed. I'm going to leave a little early to start organizing my classroom." The truth was if he waited until his meeting, he'd end up under the copy nin with no plans to leave. He was too tempting for his own good. 

"I can think of a few things we could do in an empty classroom." Kakashi only laughed when Iruka swatted at him. "No mission's desk, no school desk. Where am I supposed to have my fun?" Iruka quieted him with a kiss. The jounin wrapped his arms around him. They stayed like that for a long while, sharing long, steamy kisses until Iruka was almost late to the meeting. So much for working on his classroom, but as he rushed into his meeting he found it hard not to smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week was....ugh...so I only have one chapter written. I have part of Chapter 8 written, so there may be a second chapter this weekend. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos. I love interacting with all of you. If you're interested, you can find me on Tumblr. I made a page for my Alexia Nite alter ego. I'm most active on my art page, but feel free to message me on there. It's still a work in progress.
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite


	7. Of Friends and Marriage

Kakashi had slept as long as he could. He felt antsy after the long mission and decided to head to the training grounds to burn off some energy. He was going to summon his ninken to train with him when he heard a loud, joyous call behind him. How Guy managed to be that loud and happy all the time, he'd never understood. 

"KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" Guy came crashing down, wheelchair and all in front of him. He'd been worried how Guy would do after he recovered from his injuries, but the man seemed to hardly be fazed by it. He could go things in his chair that should have been impossible, but that was Guy. 

"Yo." Kakashi gave him a two finger salute. "I hear you're angling for a spot in my wedding that doesn't exist." Yet.

Guy laughed. "As if I would be anywhere except by your side, Kakashi. Iruka-sensei is a fine choice for a partner. All of his students speak highly of. He is so compassionate and youthful. I bet he brings passion to the relationship and to the bedroom."

The copy nin would pay a lot of money if it meant Guy never said bedroom in a sultry way again. "I'm not talking about our sex life."

"Ah, yes, rival. Too hip to talk about such things. Come now. It's been far too long since you accepted my challenged. I have one win on you. Let's race around the village. Say 100 laps?" He was positively beaming at the other man.

"How about no? I just got back from a mission and I'm still pretty sore. How about trivia instead?" Kakashi did want to train, but running until he felt like puking wasn't what he had in mind for the day. Besides, he didn't want to be too tired for Iruka tonight. 

"We are still in the springtime of our youth, ye you talk like an old man. We are almost at the training grounds. It's been far too long since I sparred last. I will take you down, old friend." He didn't wait for a response as he took off at top speed. Kakashi had no choice but to follow.

***

The teacher's meeting had thankfully been short, so Iruka did get to spend some time organizing his classroom. He'd blushed when he'd put away some paperwork in his desk and thought back to Kakashi's comment. No desk sex! He'd never be able to sit at his desk again without turning red. 

Too soon, he was heading out for his shift. It was him, Izumo, and another chunin he didn't know well. Kotetsu had taken the day off after back to back gate duty. He was secretly kind of glad it was just him and Izumo. He loved Kotetsu, but he was draining sometimes. If he'd heard Kakashi was back, he wouldn't rest until he'd heard every detail from Iruka. Anko and him were far too interested in his love life. 

He was in a wonderful mood as he headed in for his shift. It was busy when he go there, but the three of them worked well together. The other chunin was newer, but seemed to actually know what she was doing. As the evening wore on, fewer shinobi wandered in and he was able to get some filing done. It was a blissfully peaceful shift.

“So Kakashi’s back?” Izumo asked as he handed him some blank scrolls to refill the bin next to him.

“Yes. Where’d you hear that?” The copy nin had come straight to his apartment and then probably spent most of the day sleeping. Word really did travel quickly around the village.

“From you. You’ve been low key stressed for two weeks, though you’ve been hiding it. And now look at you. You’re practically glowing.” His friend offered him a sly smile. “You’re lucky Kotetsu isn’t here or we’d both never hear the end of his questioning.”

“For that, I am eternally grateful. He got home last night and came to see me.” Iruka couldn’t help, but blush a little. Technically, Kakashi had crawling into his bed and then he’d given him a blow job. His life seemed surreal sometimes.

“I know that look, Iruka. You did more than just ‘see’ him.” Izumo chuckled at him. It has been far too long since he’d been this happy and he was glad the jounin seemed to be just as invested in his friend.

Iruka looked around the room. There was one shinobi filling out his report, but he was on the far side of the room. The other chunin was in the back room, having taken over filing for a bit. “I, uh, may have given him a proper welcome home.”

Izumo snorted. “A proper welcome home? Is that what you kids are calling it these days? Cause Kotetsu and I call it sex.” This caused the teacher to flush red and look away. “It’s so cute that you still blush like a pre-genin. We’re adults. We can talk about sex. I mean especially after Kotetsu’s birthday party last year…”

“Izumo.” He whispered, desperate for the other man to keep his voice down. He was not going out with the chunin for his birthday this year. “I know we can talk about sex. It’s just…him. He does this to me. When I’m with him it’s like an awkward teenager all over age, but my crush actually likes me back and it’s embarrassing how much I want him. We still haven’t fully…you know.”

“Had penetrative sex?” The chunin offered, helpfully. It made Iruka groan and drop his head into his hands. “I know, Kotetsu is rubbing off on me. Look, I don’t need specifics, but has he seen you naked?”

Iruka suddenly wished he was anywhere, but here. Why had he thought he was safe with Izumo? Had Kotetsu so thoroughly corrupted his friend that he was now been drilled by both of them for information? “He’s seen me down to my underwear, but no, he hasn’t.”

At first he thought Izumo was going to let it go, but the chunin pressed on. “Has he bottomed before? Cause Kotetsu isn’t exactly small, but you are bigger than him. It is going to take some work for you to fuck him.”

“I hate you so much right now. I am not topping him.” His friend looked surprised by the comment. “Can we please stop talking about my,” he gestured to his crotch, “in the mission’s room?”

“Yes, yes. I’m just worried about you. It’s been a while since you’ve had an actual boyfriend. I just want you to be happy.” Izumo let the topic go for now. He could always send Kotetsu after him. He was their best friend and they both wanted to see him succeed with the copy nin. It would break his heart if things ended badly.

***

Iruka got home late. He was utterly exhausted after the long day. He was surprised when the front door opened before he could put his key in it. He looked up at Kakashi, who offered him a warm smile through his mask. “Welcome home.”

The chunin let him pull him into the apartment and into his arms. He rested his head against Kakashi’s chest. How long had it been since someone greeted him at home like this? Not since Naruto was a kid and would stay over. But this was different. This was a different kind of warmth and love. He pulled back from the other man, blushing a bit. “I wasn’t expecting you to greet me like that. Thank you.” He wasn’t even sure if he’d still be there.

“I know I liked having someone to come home to.” Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “I just thought you might like it as well.”

“I do.” He assured him, pressing a soft kiss against his cloth covered lips. “It’s been a while since I’ve had that.”

“Me too. I picked up ramen for you. I wasn’t sure when you’d be home and I figured that would be easier than trying to cook this late. It would have taken me a while to figure out where everything is in your kitchen to cook something for you.” He was rambling and he knew it. This was why he never talked and hid behind his books. 

Iruka pulled him close. “You have no idea how much I appreciate you right now.” He reached up and gently pulled down his mask. Proper food deserved a proper kiss. Just as their lips met, a banging on the door, made them jerk apart. 

Kakashi quickly pulled up his mask as Iruka went to open the door. He was a bit surprised to see Naruto standing on the other side of the door. He looked like he was in a panic. “Iruka-sen…” He paused as he saw Kakashi. “What’s Kakashi-sensei doing here?”

“I uh…came over for dinner?” It was a lame excuse, but the first thing he could think of.

Iruka shot him a look as he let Naruto in. “I was going to wait until we had ramen next week to tell you, but Kakashi and I are dating.”

The blond looked between them for a minute. “Seriously?” Kakashi watched the emotions play out over his former student’s face. He considered using the body flicker jutsu and getting a head start before Naruto hunted him down, but surely Iruka wouldn’t let the boy kill him, right? “That’s…awesome!” The copy nin let out a sigh of relief. “I mean I wish you hadn’t picked such a pervert, Iruka-sensei, but Kakashi-sensei is a good guy.”

“Pervert!” Kakashi tried to look aghast that his morals has been called into question, but he couldn’t quite pull off a look of innocence.

“No one’s perfect.” Iruka said, ignoring the jounin. “Now, you looked terrified when you came in. What’s wrong?” Naruto looked down at the floor, looking unsure of himself. “Do you want to talk about this alone?” He knew the blond cared for Kakashi as well, but this may be something he didn’t want to talk about in front of him.

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m glad it’s both of you. Sorry, seeing you both here just kind of threw me off.” Naruto shifted nervously. “I need your help.” He pulled a small box from his pocket. “I want to ask Hinata to marry me. I picked out a ring and everything, but I’m worried it won’t be nice enough for her.”

The teacher felt his chest clench with happiness that Naruto has come to him about this. Tears welled up in his eyes as he pulled him into a tight hug. “Oh, Naruto, that so wonderful.”

The blond blushed a deep red. “Iruka-sensei…” He didn’t have anyone else he could ask about this things. Iruka was the closest person he had to a father figure in his life.

Iruka brushed the tears from his cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m just so happy for you. Here, let me see the ring.” He took the small box from him. “Naruto, it’s beautiful. I’m sure Hinata will love it. I’m glad Hiashi-san gave you his blessing.”

The young man visibly paled. “Hiashi-san’s blessing?”

“You didn’t ask Hinata’s father for his blessing?” Iruka watched him pale even more. “Naruto! She the daughter of the head of the clan. You can’t ask her to marry you without his blessing!” There were customs each of the clan’s followed, but asking the head of the clan for their blessing was traditional for all of them, especially when you wanted to marry their child. 

“I’m hopeless and even I know that.” Kakashi helpfully supplied, earning him a glare.

“Sit down, Naruto. We’re going to talk about what you need to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay. I'm happy I managed to get up another chapter this weekend.


	8. A word of advice

They finally sent Naruto on his way, assured that he would speak to Hinata's father. Iruka had teared up a few times as they talked. The way Naruto spoke about Hinata, it was clear that he loved her deeply. They hadn't been together long, but Iruka felt confident that they would be given Hiashi's blessing. 

He joined Kakashi on the couch after walking the blond to the door and saying his goodbyes. He snuggled up to the silver haired man, happy and content. "You did a good job with him."

Iruka looked up at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You took a lonely, troubled boy and showed him what love was." The copy nin looked up at the ceiling, suddenly overcome with emotions. "Minato-san was my jounin sensei, did you know that?" He didn't wait for a response before he continued on. "He would have liked you and I know he'd be grateful for what you've done for Naruto."

The teacher pressed his face into Kakashi's chest. "I hated him at first. He housed the monster that killed my parents. He was the reason I was alone. When the Sandaime told me he'd be in my class, I was furious. I shouted at him. But then I met him and I saw so much of myself in him. Hiruzen-sama was the one that set me on the right path. I was just like Naruto, setting traps and pulling pranks, desperate for someone to care. He needed me and I needed him." He started to choke up at the end. They'd both lost so much, so young. 

Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka, holding him close. "You're not alone anymore. You have each other."

The chunin pulled back just enough so he could see the other man's face. "We both have you as well." He saw him start to responded, to deny his own importance. "You saved us both, Kakashi. Team 7 was his first family beyond me. You believed in him and that means everything to me. And you saved my life when the village was attacked. I know you died and came back that day. I think that was the first time I started to be honest with myself about how I felt about you." Seeing the village come together to celebrate Naruto's defeat of Pain had been a moment he'd never forget. He was honored to have been his teacher and his friend. 

The copy nin lost himself in his own memories of that day, of his conversation with his father. He often felt like he'd failed team 7, especially Sasuke. Hearing Iruka praise him made him feel like less of a failure. A soft kiss on his cheek pulled him out of his dark thoughts. "You're thinking too hard, Kakashi. Tonight, let's just be happy for how far Naruto has come."

"Hmm, but what about us? We've come a ways from you trying to have a shouting match over the chunin exams." He laughed when Iruka flushed and tried to hide his face by burying it against his chest. He tugged his mask down, pressing a kiss to the top of the other man's head. "Come on, sensei. Don't hide from me."

Iruka had known Kakashi was right about the exams, about letting his students push themselves. He'd just been worried about Naruto. He'd apologized to him afterwards, but he hated dwelling on the chunin exams. So much had gone wrong afterwards. He decided to distract the jounin instead of responding. He moved so he could kiss Kakashi's bared throat. 

"If I didn't know any better, sensei, I'd think you were trying to seduce me." The copy nin let his head fall back, giving him better access to the soft skin of his neck. The other man took his unspoken invitation, eagerly kissing and sucking the exposed flesh. Teeth scraped over his pulse, making him gasp. "Fuck, Ruka."

He tried to bury his hand in the other man's dark locks only to be foiled by his damn hair tie. He gently removed the offending tie, spilling the hair across Iruka's shoulders. He fisted the hair in his hand, using it as leverage so he could tip Iruka's head back. He hungrily kissed him, pouring his sudden need into the kiss. He deepened the kiss, breaking it to playfully nip at the other man's lower lip. "I believe I owe you a thank you for last night."

Kakashi pushed the chunin back, forcing him down onto the couch. He had been teased by him enough. He wanted to finally taste the other man. His hand moved to undo Iruka's pants, but he felt him tense under him. The copy nin froze, worried he'd done something wrong. "Ruka?"

"Sorry. I was just thinking about something Izumo said." He blushed remembering his friend's well meaning questions from earlier. 

"Iruka, I'm between your legs, ready to give you a blow job and you're thinking about Izumo?" He let his confusion show on his face. 

This made Iruka blush even more. "It's not like that. I know you've been with other men, but I wasn't sure how much experience had with men who are, well, on the larger size. Izumo was just worried about how things were going cause I'm..." He wanted to die rather than continue this conversion. "It's been an issue with past partners is all. So I though I should tell you."

"Are you bigger than me?" Kakashi knew he was larger than average, but none of his partners had ever complained. 

Kami, he wished the earth open up and swallow him. Why was this so embarrassing for him? "Yes," he finally admitted. 

Kakashi's eyes darkened with lust. "Not a problem." His hands went back to the other man's uniform pants. He undid them, pushing them and Iruka's underwear out of his way. Even partially soft, the teacher was impressive. A couple of quick strokes had him completely hard and holy fuck, he hadn't been kidding. He'd thought Tenzo was the biggest he'd ever see, but Iruka slightly beat him out in girth. 

He dipped his head, slowly running his tongue up the length of him. He felt him shudder underneath him. "My, my sensei. Who'd ever expect the innocent sensei of having such a large cock. I'm going you enjoy having this in my mouth."

"Kakashi!" Iruka wanted to chastise him for being lewd, but when he looked down at the jounin and saw the look on his face, the words died in his throat. He truly looked ready to devour him. When he moved to take him into his mouth, he never broke eye contact with the chunin. 

He was larger than Kakashi was used to, especially since it's been a while since he'd last been with Tenzo, but he was skilled enough to take most of him into his mouth. He pinned Iruka down, not wanting him to thrust up and accidentally gag him. He closed his eyes and moaned around his length as he bobbed his head up and down. He lost himself in the sensation of his cock in his mouth and the sounds of the other man. Fuck, those noises. He wished he could record the soft moans and quiet gasps of pleasure that Iruka was making. His jaw would be sore after this, but it was so worth it when he met the chunin's gaze.

Iruka's eyes were half opened, fluttering fully closed every few seconds. His hair was spilled across the arm of the couch. He looked utterly undone by what Kakashi was doing to him. He knew if he still had the Sharingan, this moment would be played on repeat every time he touched himself. For now, he'd savor the moment and the pleasure he was giving the other man. He knew Iruka was close when he reached down to grab at his hair. He tried to warn him in case he didn't want him to come in his mouth, but there was no way Kakashi wasn't going to finish what he started. With a shout of _Kakashi,_ his lover came.

Kakashi sat back, appreciating his work. His sensei was still panting and enjoying the after glow of his orgasm. He gave him a moment to recover before moving to kiss him. He sighed contently when Iruka kissed him back, cupping the back of his head. He held himself there for a moment, enjoying the closeness.

"I can move if I'm crushing you." He nuzzled the side of the chunin's throat. Iruka's only response was to hold him closer, making the copy nin chuckle. "I guess I'll stay right here." They stayed like that for a while before a yawn escaped the younger man. With some prompting, Kakashi convinced him to go to bed. He helped the sleepy man undress and they crawled into bed together. 

***

A pounding on the door woke them early the next morning. Kakashi rolled out of bed, kunai in hand, ready to take out the threat. It took him a second to realize it was the front door, not an enemy that had woken him. The loud knocking came again. "I'll get it." He told Iruka, who was still half asleep and struggling to get out of bed. The chunin happily snuggled back into the warmth of the bed as Kakashi pulled on a pair of pants and grabbed his shirt. 

He felt slightly weird opening Iruka's door. He had spent most of his time with the other man since he'd been back. He just hoped his sensei didn't mind. He was putting his shirt on when they knocked again. "Coming." He adjusted his mask as he opened the door. 

The white mask of an ANBU greeted him. "Hatake-san," the ANBU said in greeting. "Hokage-sama is requesting you meet her in her office as soon as possible."

"I will be there shortly." The ANBU nodded once and disappeared. Kakashi closed the door, sighing and secretly wishing for a day off. He headed back to the bedroom to grab the rest of his gear. Iruka was still covered in blankets, but was more awake. “Summons from the Hokage. I’ll be back soon.” He pressed a soft kiss to Iruka’s forehead.

Kakashi took the roofs as soon as he left the apartment. It was still dark outside, the sun just starting to rise. It was quiet, just a few shinobi out and about as the rest of the village slumbered below. He landed outside Tsunade’s office window. She’d left it open for him, knowing his dislike of doors in general. “Took you long enough, brat.” She grumbled as he slipped inside.

Shizune was the only other person in the room. He gave her a two finger salute as a greeting. “What can I do for you on this fine morning, Tsunade-sama?” Morning was a stretch of the word. The clock on her wall said it was 5:27 AM. His mornings usually started closer to 11 when he wasn’t on a mission. He’d much rather be at Iruka’s snuggling or fu-

“You have a month to get ready.” Kakashi realized he’d zoned out while Tsunade had been talking, missing most of what she’d said all because of this very attractive boyfriend. “Shizune will stay on for a while to help you, but you’ll need to find someone to replace her eventually. I recommend the Nara heir.”

The more she talked, the more he realized what this meeting was about. She’d chosen a date for her retirement. He had one month to prepare to take over as the Rokudaime. “A month!” He hadn’t meant to sound so panicked, but he was not mentally prepared for this conversation. Fuck, he’d just started dating Iruka and who thought it was a good idea for him to lead the village?

Tsunade gave him a dark look. “You’ve been given housing suiting your new status. Move in sooner rather than later. You’ll be too busy to move out of the jounin barracks once you take over.” She continued without missing a beat. She shoved a folder at him. “This has the key to you new house as well as a list of things you need to take care of before the inauguration ceremony. I will personally end you if you send a shadow clown or show up late.”

The copy nin stood there, staring at the folder in front of him, wondering how things had changed so rapidly. The Hokage slammed her fist down onto her desk. “Are you even listening to me, Kakashi? Take it and get out. I need to start my day. That’s an order.”

Kakashi snatched it off her desk. “Maa, you have no faith in me, Tsunade-sama. I was just caught off guard by the timing.” Last week killing missing-nin, next week leading the village. He took the loose key out of the stack of paperwork, securing it safely into his weapons pouch, and tucked the folder under one arm. He started to head out of the window when Shizune stopped him.

“Kakashi-san, a word of warning.” She glanced at Tsunade, wondering if the other woman would stop her. “The council has heard about your relationship with Umino-san. They want to speak to you. I’m sure they will be sending a summons in the next day or so.” She paused as if she had more she wanted to say. “I like Umino-san. I just wanted to warn you.” She decided to leave it at that.

The silver haired jounin stared at her for a moment, wondering what she wasn’t saying. “Thank you for the heads up, Shizune-san.” He had a lot to think about in the next few days. He thought about going back to Iruka’s, but set course for his own, neglected apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your continued support. All the kudos and comments always make my day. The KakaIru community on here is the best. <3 Also, sorry for the short chapter. I have been working on another story and work was crazy this week.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr.  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite


	9. Proposals

Kakashi wasn’t back by the time Iruka dragged himself out of bed. He still wasn’t back after he’d showered, made breakfast, and worked on his lesson plans some more. He was starting to get worried that something had happened to other man, which was silly of course. The Allied Nations were at peace and he was safely inside the village. What harm could come to him?

By the time lunch rolled around, he had finished his lessons and cleaned up his kitchen. He was about to get started on cleaning his bathroom when he heard a soft thud against his front door. He paused just as he was leaving the kitchen, uncertain he’d actually heard anything when the sound came again. What on earth…Iruka went to his front door, opening it, to see if someone was out there. 

“Yo,” Pakkun greeted him as he padded into the man’s apartment. “Kakashi’s at home. He needed to take care of somethings there.” The ninken looked around the space. It was homey and he approved of it.

“Pakkun.” Iruka closed the door, following after the dog. Why did he feel like he and his home were being size up by the pug? He’d only ever met the ninken a few times in passing. “Thank you for coming. I was starting to get worried when he didn’t come back from his meeting.”

“He apparently got some news from the Hokage. Didn’t really say what. Just spent a while sulking and started packing some things away, then asked if I’d come get you.” He jumped up onto the couch settling into to the comfy pillows.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at the ninken as he made himself at home. “That doesn’t look like you fetching me.”

Pakkun yawned at him. “You’ve been to his place before. That pup works me too hard. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I rested for a while.” The chunin almost argued, but didn’t really see the harm in letting the ninken take a nap on his couch. He opened a window for him, giving him a way out if he decided to leave before Iruka returned. He was half way through the door when he heard Pakkun mutter something like ‘he doesn’t deserve you’. 

Iruka had only ever been to Kakashi’s apartment once and he’d only stood in the doorway. He’d never invited him over before. He couldn’t help but to worry a bit as he set out. Why hadn’t he come back after the meeting and why was he packing? He shook himself as hurried to the copy nin’s apartment. He’d barely knocked when Kakashi opened the door.

“Where’s Pakkun? I asked him to bring you here.” He stepped back so Iruka could enter.

“He came to my place and decided to take a nap on the couch.” The teacher told him, taking in what he could see of the apartment. It was sparsely decorated, but clean. It was exactly what he’d expected. 

Kakashi shook his head and went back to the bookcase he’d been packing. “He is even lazier than me.” He dropped another book into the box next to the shelf. He didn’t have a lot to pack, he just hated moving, so he wanted to get a jump on packing. 

“Packing?”

The silver haired man nodded. “I got word this morning. Tsunade is retiring in a month. I have this huge list of stuff I have to do before then, which seemed like too much, so I decided to start packing instead. Apparently, the jounin barracks are not acceptable living quarters for the next Hokage.”

“Kakashi, that’s great though.” Iruka couldn’t hide his excitement. He knew Kakashi didn’t understand why they’d chosen him, but his years of tireless service were being rewarded, even if he didn’t see it that way. “How can I help?”

“There’s a list of stuff on the table.” He gestured in the vague direction of the table. “I don’t even know where to start with it. I thought you’d be willing to help me with some of it.”

Iruka picked up the listed, quickly reading down it. “Of course I’ll do what I can to help, but I’m just a chunin. I’m not even sure I’m supposed to be reading this.” He was surprised to find Kakashi standing in front of him when he looked up. He hadn’t even heard him move…

Kakashi reached out and cupped his cheek. “You’re not just a chunin.” He smiled when his sensei’s cheeks started to darken. “You are the best teacher the village has, with boundless patience for Naruto and I. And well…I have it on good authority you are really blessed in a certain area.” He let his eyes travel down the other man’s body.

“Kashi! You are always such a pervert.” He sounded exasperated, but they both knew he was slowly becoming a fan of Kakashi’s teasing. “A lot of this has to do with paperwork and potentially choosing new department heads. I can help with some of the paperwork, just so it’s actually legible.”

“Oh ouch, Iruka. Are you saying my reports were not the best you’d ever read?” His only answer was Iruka snorting. “I already know who I’d swap out as department heads, so that part is easy. I think Shizune-san put the paperwork together for me. I really appreciate your help.”

He smiled at Kakashi, before he pulled away to sit down on a futon that served as his couch. “Keep packing and I’ll start on this paperwork. I’ll let you buy me food in a bit.”

***

Kakashi sat across from two of the oldest living shinobi in the village, waiting for them to speak. Shizune has been right. The two elders has requested a sit down with him the next day. Now, he started down Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, wondering what they wanted from him. 

Koharu spoke first. “Thank you for joining us, Hatake-sama. I’m sure you have a lot to take care of now that the Hokage-sama has chosen a date for her retirement. Homura and I wanted to take some time to formally sit down with you before your inauguration. Would you like some tea?”

“No thank you, Utatane-san. I’d prefer to get straight to the heart of the matter. Why have you asked for this meeting?” The copy nin knew that both of them thought they had the village’s best interests in mind, but he wasn’t going to bow down to either of them.

Homura made a sound of disapproval. “Always straight to business with you.” He took the cup Koharu offered him. “We have faith that you will have no problem leading the village as the next Hokage. However, we have some concerns when it comes to your…personal relationships.”

Kakashi forced himself not to react. He treated them like he would enemy nin, studying them carefully, watching their every move. “My personal relationships.”

“Yes. Sasuke Uchiha for starters. The village has chosen not to press charges against him for Danzo’s murder, but he did help start the Fourth Great Ninja War. He is still dangerous and is currently wandering around unchecked.” Homura took a sip of his tea, watching the copy nin’s face. “How do you plan on handling him?”

“Sasuke has chosen to continue protecting the village by remaining on the move. Even with the alliance between the villages, there are a lot of shinobi that would kill to get a hold of one of his eyes. I agree with his current course of action.” To be honest, he wished Sasuke would come home, but he understood not wanting to put the village at risk. 

“Hmm, yes. I suppose I see the logic in that.” Koharu set her tea cup on the table between them. “You don’t feel the need to assign him a protection detail?”

He almost laughed in her face. “With all due respect Utatane-san, there is no one currently in ANBU that is stronger than Sasuke. They would just slow him down in a fight.”

“Fine. The Uchiha will be left to his own devices. Now, there is a question about Iruka Umino.” Homura shared a look with his former team member. “What exactly is the nature of your relationship with the academy teacher?”

“I would think at your age, you wouldn’t need the birds and the bees talk.” Kakashi bit off. He curled his hands in his lap, trying to reel back on his sarcasm. “Iruka and I are involved and our relationship is not up for debate.”

Koharu looked offended by his tone, but he didn’t care much. They were his council and they did not get to dictate his personal life. “I would ask you to watch your tone of voice, Hatake-sama. We are simply preparing you for the questions others will raise. Surely, you must understand that you having a male partner will raise some eyebrows. And he is only a chunin.”

“And Naruto is still technically a genin, but that didn’t stop him from saving the world. His rank has nothing to do with his value as a person. And if me being with another man is an issue, then find someone else to take over as Hokage because I am not going to suddenly become straight over night.” He delivered his response as evenly as possible. Two old bats were not going to shake him.

“Very well.” Koharu said, pouring herself a new cup of tea. “When are you planning on getting married?”

Kakashi had been preparing his response, ready to fight tooth and nail for his relationship, but her quiet acceptance and follow up question left him in stunned silence for a moment. “Married? We, uh…we have no plans for anything like that yet.”

The kunoichi tutted at him. “The Hokage’s partner can be just as vital to the village as the actual Hokage. Surely, you remember all the things Lady Sarutobi did for the village before she passed away.” To be honest, Kakashi didn’t remember much of her. She’s died shortly after he’d joined ANBU. He hadn’t been focused on anything except his own pain and protecting the village at that point.

“I don’t recall and Tsunade-sama doesn’t have a partner.” Now that he thought about it, he did remember something about the importance of the Hokage’s spouse from back when he used to sit outside Iruka’s classroom.

“Hopeless.” She responded back. “The Hokage’s spouse is your face to the village. You will spend a great deal of time running things up here, so Umino-san will be the one that takes on charitable work for you, who meets with the civilians in the village, and acts as host to dignitaries. If you intended to stay with him, you will be expected to marry and he will be expected to fulfil his duties as your spouse. As for Tsunade-sama….she has always been a lot cause. We tried to talk her into a marriage and she broke a desk and a chair before Homura and could calm her down. It is not technically a requirement to get married when you are the Hokage, but since you do have a partner, the eyes of the village will be on him as much as they are on you.”

Homura nodded in agreement. “I’d say a year is a good amount of time to plan the wedding. You’ll have been the Hokage for a while. We’ll have plenty of time to send out invites to the other Kage. The people of the village will have gotten used to the idea of the Hokage having a male partner.” The two elders shared a look of agreement. “As your council, we suggest you get engaged as soon as possible and marry Umino-san by the time your one year anniversary as Hokage rolls around. If not, then you should end your association with the chunin. The village needs a strong leader who has a strong partner at his side. Anything less will show a lack of commitment on your end. If you cannot commit to a partner, can you really commit yourself to the village? People think these things.”

Kakashi had faced down swarms of enemies, fought in two wars, and copied a thousand jutsu, but never in his life did he feel as overwhelmed as he did in that moment. He and Iruka had only been dating for a short while, and he’d been on missions for part of that, but they wanted him to get engaged. What would Iruka even say? Would he think he was crazy? Was he crazy for even considering it? “We haven’t been together long.” He finally managed to get out.

“It doesn’t matter. Better a short relationship, with a decently long engagement, than a relationship that leaves the village wondering. We saw this happen with the second Hokage and even Hiruzen faced some some push back since he didn’t marry for almost three years after he was the Hokage.” Koharu offered the copy nin a genuine smile, which greatly confused him. “This is just our advice, but we’ve been around, Hatake-san. If you want a smooth transition on the non-combat side of things, marry Umino-san. Now, we have taken up enough of your time. Homura and I will take out leave.”

They left him sitting there with only his thoughts. How the fuck was he going to tell all this to Iruka?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise second chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one. I had fun messing with Kakashi a bit.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr.  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite


	10. Anything for you

Iruka woke up alone in Kakashi's bed. He knew the jounin had an early morning meeting with his council, but that hadn't stopped them from having a very late night. The teacher flushed with the memory. After a late lunch, he'd helped Kakashi pack, which led to the discovery of a certain toy drawer. They'd gotten very distracted after that. 

He rolled over in bed, burying his face in the pillow, basking in the fact that he had the scent of Kakashi all around him. He felt his body stir, even after all the fun they'd had last night. A wicked grin spread over his face. Kakashi had said the meeting shouldn't be too long.

***

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out what he was going to tell Iruka. He couldn't exactly avoid him forever since he was back at his apartment. He was positively a wreak by the time he got back to the apartment. He was surprised when he got back and found that Iruka wasn't up yet. 

He left his shoes by the door and had started to take off his vest when he had a noise from his bedroom. He grinned, crossing the apartment, and pushed the room to the door open. He'd been expecting to surprise his boyfriend, but holy fuck, he was definitely the surprised one. 

Iruka was his bed, spread out, quickly working one of his toys in and out of his body. His tan skin was flushed and he looked amazing. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, I wasn't expecting you back so soon." Kakashi couldn't believe his teacher's voice could sound that naughty and it went straight to his cock.  

"Well, well Iruka-sensei, I certainly wasn't expecting this. I see you helped yourself to my special drawer." He let his vest fall to the ground, followed shortly his shirt. 

"I know I should have asked, but maybe you'd like to take the toy's place as punishment?" The copy nin just about had a heart attack. Was Iruka offering...

He let his eyes wander up the length of the chunin's body as he finished undressing. "I think that would be a very fitting punishment, sensei." His eyes never left Iruka's face as he stalked closer, gently grabbing his arm that was deftly working the toy in and out of himself. "We won't be needing this anymore."

Kakashi set the toy aside and moved between his legs. "Lube?" His lover reached up under the pillows, grabbing the small bottle for him. The silver haired nin felt his heart pound as he took it. He poured a generous amount into his palm and spread it over his length. Iruka had done well preparing himself, so he tossed the bottle aside. 

He pressed against the other man, making him moan. "Did you plan this or just decide spur of the moment?" He pressed soft kisses against his tan throat.

"The idea came to me this morning," Iruka gasped out. He rubbed himself against Kakashi, wanting him inside of him. "I thought you'd appreciate it."

"Oh, I very much do, Ruka." He told him, stealing a kiss. "It was a very nice surprise."

"It'll be better if you'd hurry up and fuck me." Iruka was not normally one to beg, but he'd worked himself up quite a bit before hand. "I think I've waited long enough for you."

How could Kakashi deny him now? "You're absolutely right." He kissed him again as he started to slowly slide into his body. It had been far too long since he'd been with someone and he could hardly believe he was lucky enough to be with Iruka. 

"Fuck, Kashi." Iruka gasped out underneath him. The chunin hungrily kissed him as he finally pressed his entire length into him. 

Kakashi gave him a moment to adjust to him, before he slowly pulled out, thrusting back in. He kept a slow, deliberate pace at first, knowing it had been a while for his lover, and he didn’t want to hurt him. Also, he loved the soft, needy noises Iruka was making. "Please, Kakashi. Stop teasing me."

That made the copy nin chuckle. He pulled out again, deliberately as slow as possible, before thrusting into him hard and fast. The change in pace made Iruka gasp and Kakashi used to opportunity to kiss him hard. He cried out into the jounin's mouth as he fucked him. 

Iruka buried a hand in his silver locks, grabbing a handful. It was Kakashi's turn to gasp. "Ruka," he groaned, thrusting in harder than he intended. 

"Too much?" The teacher asked him, loosening his grip a bit. 

He shook his head. "Harder." He nearly cried out when the other man pulled his hair hard enough to jerk his head back some. "Kami, yes." He kissed his sensei roughly.

Kakashi slipped his hand under the chunin, grabbing his ass and lifting his hips. The shift in position was enough to help find was he was looking for. He knew he'd hit his prostate when Iruka arched his back and cried out his name. 

That was all the encouragement the copy nin needed. Iruka writhed under him as his cock rubbed against that spot over and over again. He watched the teacher reach between them to stroke his own cock as he got closer to coming. "That's right Ruka, come for me my love." The other man cried out in ecstasy as he came, hard.

He clung to Kakashi as the jounin continued to thrust into his tight body. He was getting close, his breathing started to become gasps and moans. The hand returned to his hair, making him moan Iruka's name, but what did him in was when the chunin bit down on his shoulder. It was something he never really talked about. The only other lover that had known how much he liked pain during sex was Tenzo, but Iruka had seen right through him. 

Kakashi couldn't remember the last time he'd had an orgasm that amazing or sex that good. He rested his forehead on Iruka's shoulder as he struggled to catch his breath. Strong arms circled around him, holding him close. 

Iruka had been thorough in his planning, having stashed a few wash cloths nearby. He gently cleaned both of them up. It was an odd reversal of roles for the copy nin since he was usually the one taking care of the clean up, but his boyfriend seemed content to let him lie there. He wrapped his arms around the other man, basking in post sex snuggles. He'd never been one for this kind of intimacy, but it felt so right with him. 

His sensei stroked his chest as they laid there together. He finally spoke after several minutes. "I love you, Kakashi." He said it so quietly the copy nin almost thought he'd imagined the words, but he felt Iruka stiffen with nervousness. 

Kakashi cupped the other man's jaw. "I love you too, Iruka." He realized he meant it and that terrified him a bit. Rather than dwell on the panic that was rising in him, he kissed him, letting his actions speak as loudly as his words. 

Iruka buried his face in the jounin's chest when the kiss ended. Kakashi would have happily laid there all day with him, but the question he asked quickly brought reality crashing back down. "How was your meeting?" He knew he should give some sort of answer, but he froze up. "Kashi?" The teacher pulled back to look at his face and he felt so exposed without his mask. "What's wrong?"

"The council..." Kakashi swallowed, overcome with worry. Did he tell him the truth? Of course, he wasn't going to lie to him, but fuck how was he supposed to tell him? This felt worst than the one time a Mist nin had tortured him. "They, uh, had some suggestions about my...personal life."

The look on the chunin's face darkened. "What suggestions?" He bit out. Kakashi knew that tone, it was the tone he used right before he tore into someone. 

"They suggested we get married." He could have explained their reasoning, but that was all he could manage to get out. 

A number of emotions crossed his lover's face: anger, confusion, happiness. "Married? And what do you think of that?" He was back to anger now. 

Kakashi's words stuck in his throat. Iruka moved away from him, sitting up. "Ruka...I would never let politics be the reason I married you." It broke his heart to see him shut down and move away from him like that. 

"Did you mean it when you said you loved me?" Tears threatened to fall down his tan cheeks, so he looked away, trying to hide his pain.

"I never wanted to be the reason you cried ever again." The copy nin moved, sitting up so he could face Iruka. "I am in love with you and if you never want to get married, then we won't. I-" he paused, knowing how hard it would be to admit this out loud, "I'm tired of being alone. I would do anything to keep you happy and by my side, including telling the council to shove it. I'm going to be the Hokage, not them."

The rest of his rant was cut off by a soft kiss. He wrapped his arms around Iruka. "I just wanted to make sure you wanted this because you loved me." 

"What are you saying, Iruka?" Kakashi's heart was pounding in his chest. He was frozen, trying to figure out if he really meant what he was saying. 

"I'm saying it's sudden, and too fast, but I'm saying yes. I'll marry you. I probably understand their reasons for suggesting this better than anyone." He had a whole lecture on the importance of the Hokage's spouse. "I will be your face to the village, but I'm not giving up teaching. And Kakashi?"

"Yes?" The copy nin was finding it hard to breathe as he processed the fact that Iruka had said yes. 

"You're terrible at proposing." The chunin teased him, pressing a chaste kiss against his lips. Iruka Umino-Hatake. He liked the sound of that. "And, yes, I'll be the one to tell Naruto."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter of fluff and smut. I was originally going to make this a huge right between them, but I just couldn't make them sad.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr. I love chatting with all of you.  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite


	11. More to Life

Iruka knew he'd been staring at his lesson plans for far too long. The academy was starting back the next week, so he'd gone in to prep his classroom, but his mind kept circling around one terrifying truth... he'd agreed to marry Kakashi and the official announcement was going to be made in just a few days. 

And he hadn't told anyone about it yet. It all seemed to make sense when he was pressed against him. They'd spent the last few days moving him into his new house and having sex in just about every room. It was hard to think past his boyfriend's mouth on his body. But joy had turned to panic. He was in love with Kakashi, and very much did want to marry him, but he was all happening so fast.

It was very thing he wanted, everything he had dreamed of, so why was he staring at his desk, fighting off the feeling of dread? Because half of him still expected it to all fall apart, to be nothing more than a dream. What did Kakashi even see in him? He was the copy nin, a man of legend, and he was just Iruka. 

The chunin groaned and buried his face in his hands. And worst of all, he'd agreed to play the Hokage's wife. How was he going to balance that with teaching? Who did he think he was to take that on? The previous Hokages had married women of high class who regularly dealt with the lords of the land. He'd only seen the Daimyo once from a far.

He was pulled out of his misery spiral by a knock. Anko was standing in the doorway of his classroom, having knocked on the door frame to get his attention. All the color drained out of his face. "Oh, shit."

"Oh shit is right." She crossed her arms over her chest, staring him down. "I sat at Ichiraku's for half an hour waiting for you and I don't even like ramen that much."

"I'm so sorry, Anko." Iruka quickly shoved his lesson plans into a drawer and locked his desk up. "It totally slipped my mind."

The kunoichi looked at him, suspiciously. "It's not like you to forget plans with me and you look stressed out. What's going on?" 

The chunin tried to play it off by plastering a smile on his face. "Nothing's wrong. Just got caught up with lesson prep."

Anko hopped up onto the students' desk area, taking a seat. She felt like they were going to be there a while if Iruka was going to lie to her. "So you didn't have your face buried in your hands when I walked in? I don't like it when you lie to me. Did Kakashi do something to you because next Hokage or not, I will end him." The last time she'd let him lie to her about what was going on in his life he'd ended up nearly crippled, with a huge new scar. 

Iruka sighed and took a seat back at his own desk. "It's nothing like that. In a few days they are going to officially announce the date of Kakashi's inauguration... and that we are engaged."

Anko just about had a heart attack. "Whoa...whoa... back it up the for a second, Ruka. You are marrying Kakashi?! Wait, why is that freaking you out? You have been in love with him for ages. Is he forcing you into this?"

"Anko! Stop thinking the worst of him." He huffed at her. "I'm freaking out because being the Hokage's spouse comes with certain responsibilities and it's a lot of work and I have no idea how I'm going to balance it with teaching. I can't give up my kids." They were why he got up in the morning. 

The purple haired women just stared at him like he was an idiot. "Iruka... you don't have to teach." She shot him a look when he tried to interrupt. "Let me finish. There are ways to help out at the academy that aren't teaching. Isn't Hiroshi-san retiring soon? You could be the new counselor. It's only part time and you could be a substitute as well."

Iruka sat there in stunned silence for a moment. He'd been so focused on being a full time teacher as his only option that he'd skipped all the other ways he could still work at the academy. "I'm an idiot."

"No, I'm just a genius." Anko proudly announced as she slid off the desk. "Now, as a thank you, I will let you buy me lunch. And don't think you're skipping out of telling me what you and Kakashi have been doing for the past several days. I want every last detail."

"So humble." The chunin mumbled under his breath as he stood to follow her. "Why do I always have to pay?"

"Because, Ruka, you need lots of help. Help I provide at the low, low cost of dango."

He rolled his eyes behind her back. He did have to admit she'd been there with him through a lot. He'd lost a lot of friends after Mizuki had attacked him and his loyalty to the village had been questioned. "How do you even know about Hiroshi-san retiring?"  
   
"I have my ways." Anko told him in a sultry voice, making Iruka pretend to gag. She took a swipe at him, which he easily dodged, and he took off for door that led outside. The two of them laughed as she tried to chase him down. 

***

Iruka left Anko with a promise to visit soon and tell her all the sordid details of his love life. That was one friend down that he had to tell. Now, he was on he way to see Kotetsu and Izumo. A ball of nervousness was forming in his stomach as he got closer to their apartment. He reminded himself that his friends would be supportive of him and his choices. 

With a deep breath, he knocked on their front door. Kotetsu answered half asleep, hair a mess, and sleep pants low on his hips. "We had a late night," he told his friend with a yawn.

"Riiiight..." Iruka followed him into the apartment. "You could have put some clothes on."

"Having fond flashbacks to my birthday?" The other chunin smirked at him, making Iruka flush a dark red. 

"Ko, leave him alone." Izumo padded out of their bedroom, looking just as tired as his boyfriend. "I need some tea," he told them, yawning. He brushed past Kotetsu on his way to the kitchen. "It's good to see you, Ruka."

Iruka trailed after him, wanting to help him with the tea. Izumo waved him away as he put the kettle on the stove. "It's good too see you as well. Sorry I've been so busy lately. I've been trying to get my classroom together."

"And fucking Kakashi senseless I'm sure." Kotetsu added, which earned him a glare from his boyfriend. "What? You're telling me they've been together for days and didn't go at it like rabbits. Yeah right."

The sensei shook his head at his friend and took a seat at their dining room table. "There was plenty of sex, but I was the one getting fucked senseless." He fondly thought back to Kakashi bending him over the kitchen counter.

"Really? I didn't think you bottomed much. After all with you and Izumo..." He trailed off as both of them glared at him. "I can't believe we don't get ti talk about my birthday. Cause I remember it rather fondly."

"Moving on." Izumo ignored his love and started getting down cups for their tea. "Not that we don't love seeing you, but you said you needed to tell us something?"

Iruka looked between the two of them. It had to be now or they'd find out from the official announcement. "Yes. So they are going to officially announce Kakashi as the next Hokage in a few days. There were some concerns from the council about our relationship and if I would take on the responsibilities of being his spouse, so we're getting married, and I'm thinking about becoming a counselor at the academy instead of teaching and this is all happening so fast." He got it out all in one breath, rushing through his explanation of everything. 

His friends were quiet for several seconds. Kotetsu broke first. "Ruka, I love you, but have you lost your mind? We leave you alone for Kakashi for like two seconds and you're getting married?! Holy shit man. Congratulations!" 

Izumo gave Ko a confused look, wondering how he went from ‘you're crazy to congrats’. "I'm really happy for you, Ru. Are you ready for this kind of commitment to Kakashi and to the village?"

"Yes." The teacher answered honestly. "It all feels so overwhelming, but it feels right. We aren't getting married right away, so I have some time to figure out how I want to balance this all." His talk with Anko had made him feel much more confident about his decision, even if it did feel like it was all happening too fast. 

"Seriously, we're happy for you and want to support you." Kotetsu leaned back against the counter. "But more importantly, how is the sex? I imagine it's great. Oww!" He rubbed his side, where his boyfriend had jabbed him. 

"Don't answer my pervert of a boyfriend. He's just as bad as Anko." Izumo poured each of them a cup of tea. He added a bit if milk to his and honey to Kotetsu's cup.

Iruka thanked him for the tea. "He really is. I saw her before I came here, but her questions were much more vulgar." He shook his head thinking about her. "Would you two like to have dinner with Kakashi and I on Friday to celebrate the announcement?"

"We'd love to, Ruka." Izumo smiled warmly. "I'll try to get Ko to behave." That made them both laugh at Kotetsu's expense. Iruka was glad his friends were all on board with the wedding. He hoped Kakashi was doing well with telling Guy-sensei.

***

Kakashi had spent three hours trying to find Guy. He and Iruka had agreed that they’d put off telling their friends about the engagement long enough. He had been content to stay in bed all day long with his sensei, but Iruka had insisted on it being today. They were running out of time and he supposed he shouldn’t let Guy find out from someone else, but several hours had turned up nothing. He’d finally found Lee at the training grounds who informed him Guy had left the village for several days for a relaxing dip in a hot spring that was supposed to have amazing healing properties.

Leave it to Guy to go off chasing magic hot springs when he was supposed to be telling him he was getting married. He was about to head back to his new house when fate decided to have a laugh and he crossed paths with Naruto. The blond waved excitedly to him as he approved. “Kakashi-sensei! I’m glad I ran in to you. I have exciting news. Hinata said yes!”

The copy nin offered him a genuine smile. “That’s great to hear. Iruka will be happy to hear that. Maybe we can take you out for ramen to celebrate.”

Naruto’s face lit up at the mention of ramen. “I’d love that. I don’t get to see either one of you nearly enough.”

“My free time is about to become non existent. Tsunade-sama has picked when she’s retiring, so soon all of this will be my responsibility.” He waved at the buildings around them. 

“But Kakashi-sensei being the Hokage is going to be the best!” He sounded way too excited at the thought of Kakashi being the Hokage, which made the silver haired man snort. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m going to be the Hokage after you, I swear it. And Hinata will be by my side.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know you’ll be the Hokage one day and I’m glad it excites you, but I promise you it’s a real drag.”

“You sound like Shikamaru now.” The blond shook his head at his former sensei. “I can’t wait to be Hokage.”

“At least Iruka will be helping.” Kakashi looked up at the sky, fondly remembering Iruka’s promise to take on the responsibilities expected of the Hokage’s spouse.

“How is Iruka-sensei going to help?”

He gave a casual shrug. “Same way Hinata-san will help you one day. The Hokage’s spouse does a lot to help the village. Iruka will be my husband and will help with some of my duties.” He realized his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. At first he hoped the comment went over Naruto’s head, but he saw the blond stiffen.

“I didn’t know you and Iruka-sensei were getting married.” Naurto tried to hide the hurt he felt at being left out of such an important announcement. Why hadn’t Iruka come to tell him?

“Naruto-” 

Before he could even finish, Naruto plastered a fake smile on his face. “I totally forgot Hinata needed me to pick something up for her. Tell Iruka-sensei I said congratulations and I can’t wait to see him for ramen.” Kakashi had never hated the body flicker more than when his former student disappeared on him.

Fuck him…this day was not going out how he had wanted. And now he had to find Iruka and explain how badly he’d messed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your continuing support. I love interacting with all of you on here and on Tumblr. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite


	12. Gay Dads

Iruka was in a wonderful mood when he got back to his apartment. He had just put his key in the door to head inside when a burst of chakra alerted him that someone was now behind him. He let go of the keys and had kunai in hand as he dropped down low, turning to face his opponent. Instead of an enemy nin, he found one very nervous looking Kakashi. He sighed as he stood, tucking his weapon away. "Don't do that. I almost stabbed you."

He expected some quip about how he wouldn't be able to lay a hand on the genius nin. "I messed up, Iruka." That had definitely not been what he'd been expecting. 

"I doubt it's that bad." Iruka finished unlocking his apartment to let them both in. "Did you upset Guy? Because I already told you it's okay for him to be in the wedding."

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably, trying to put off the inevitable. "Guy's not in the village at the moment, but I did run into Naruto...and kind of let it slip that we were getting married. He looked pretty hurt and body flickered away before I could explain."

The teacher sighed heavily. "It was an honest mistake." He cupped his love's cloth covered cheek. "I'll find him and fix this."

Kakashi felt mildly better, but still wished he hadn't ruined the surprise AND hurt Naruto's feelings. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of Iruka's head. "Still sorry." He muttered. 

Iruka wrapped his arms around the other man, resting his on his chest, comforting him. He understood why he was so upset. Kakashi was an orphan like him, like Naruto. They'd found a small group of friends that had become family. He'd never admit it out loud, but the jounin considered Naruto family and he'd hurt him. Losing someone you were close to was hard enough, but as an orphan, it was crushing. "I'll fix this, Kashi. I promise."

***

Iruka found Naruto at the academy. It was the third place he'd checked and he was relieved to see the mess of blond hair. The younger man was sitting on a swing that was slightly too small for him. His head was bowed, but his former teacher see the way his shoulders shook slightly as he cried. 

Naruto heard him approach, looking up suddenly. He brushed the tears from his eyes, trying to hide his pain from Iruka, just like when he was a child. "Iruka-sensei."

The teacher closed the distance between them, pulling Naruto against his chest. He didn't speak, just held space for him, for his pain. He felt strong arms wrap around him as the blond pressed his face against Iruka's body, trying once again to hide his tears. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." He finally said softly.

They stood like that for several minutes, Iruka gently rubbing his back. Naruto's soft crying finally subsided. He pulled back from his former sensei's embrace. "I'm sorry." He mumbled. 

The chunin offered him a small smile. "Naruto, you have nothing to be sorry about."

"I'm sorry you had to come find me like when I was a kid. When Kakashi said you were getting married...I just reacted. I realize now it was stupid. I'm sure that you were going to tell me, but in that moment it felt like I was losing you." His voice was thick with emotion, the prolonged crying making his voice crack. 

"Naruto, you will never lose me. And it's not stupid." Iruka took a calming breath, looking up into the night sky. "For years, I wondered what place I had in your life. It felt like you grew past me long ago. But you always came back to me and I was grateful, grateful that you didn't leave me because I care a great deal about you."

"Iruka-sensei...of course I came back. You're my dad." The blond's words made the chunin tear up. "I guess you and Kakashi are my gay dads and I wouldn't change that for anything. I love you both. "

Iruka laughed through his tears, pulling him close again and hugging him tightly. "We love you too, Naruto. Now come home and talk to your other dad before he goes crazy with worry." 

***

Kakashi forced himself not to pace, pacing sometimes made him more anxious. Iruka had been gone for a while now and it was starting to eat at him. He wished he could take back his careless words, wish he could forget the hurt he'd seen on Naruto's face. He finally sat down on the couch, staring down at his gloves. He knew exactly what it was like to grow up with nothing, with no one. After his father killed himself and Minato had died, he'd thrown himself deeper into ANBU, becoming a faceless killer for his village. Wolf. His legacy was almost as great as the Copy Nin’s. The years in ANBU had let him bury all his pain and fed a rage that was burning inside of him. Only his friends and the Hokage had saved him from being consumed by that rage. 

Team 7 had been what finally quenched that dreadful burning. Those kids had changed him as much as he had helped shape them. He'd been so busy trying to save Sasuke though that he felt like he'd neglected Naruto. What would Minato-sensei think of him now? Would he see that he had failed his son? If he was being honest with himself he had to wonder if he focused so heavily on Sasuke because he saw himself in the young man or because he saw too much of Minato and Kushina in Naruto. Losing them was like losing his father all over again.

He clenched his fists, forcing the thought away. Iruka would make this better, he had to. He couldn't face the possibility that Naruto could ever hate him, even if in some ways he deserved it. The academy teacher had been there for the boy in ways he wasn't able. ANBU weren't exactly known for being warm and fuzzy. Anything he could have offered Naruto at a younger age would have done more to damage the boy. Wolf couldn't take care of anyone, couldn't offer his former sensei's child the love and support he needed in a village that hated him just for being born. But Iruka...he was all the things that Kakashi hadn't been. Naruto was who he was because Iruka had shown him kindness and love.

When the front door finally opened, Kakashi had been staring at the floor for what felt like ages. He didn't stand up and greet his love. He was...ashamed. His dark thoughts were interrupted by a blond ball of energy. He hadn't been expecting Naruto, so for once he was actually caught off guard. His former student practically tackled him, pinning him to the couch with a hug. "N-Naruto?"

"I'm so sorry to make you worry, Kakashi-sensei. I shouldn't have run off like that. I was being stupid and it just hurt to think about losing Iruka and I'm glad you're my other gay dad!" All of this came out in a loud, booming rush of words that was 100% Naruto.

Kakashi managed to get out from under the blond, but he was laughing by the time he managed to detangle himself. "Gay dad, huh?" He shared a look with Iruka, who was looking at him with so much love and support that it made his heart soar. "I guess I'm okay with that."

Naruto laughed with Kakashi as the silver haired man pushed him off of him. "Iruka-sensei and I had a good talk and I wanted to apologize for how I reacted. I am really happy for both of you."

The jounin did something totally out of character for him. He hugged Naruto. He wasn't sure who was more stunned, him or Naruto. "Thank you, Naruto. I'm sorry I was so careless with my words."

Iruka blinked back the sudden tears that threatened to fall. Seeing Kakashi embrace Naruto with so much love and warmth...it made him fall even more in love with the other man. "Water under the bridge now." The chunin crossed the room to join them. "Naruto agreed to be my best man."

That made the jinchuriki beam proudly. "I can't wait to tell Hinata. She's going to be so excited. She was so happy to hear you two were doing so well."

"She's a sweet young woman. How about we call it a night with a promise of dinner with the four of us and Kakashi pays?" Iruka offered, making Kakashi give him a look of mock protest. "He's getting that Hokage pay soon. He can treat us." There was more laughter and hugs as the pair finally got Naruto on his way.

The two of them returned to the couch so Iruka could curl up in his lover's lap. "Thank you." Kakashi pressed a kiss to his forehead. The dark thoughts from early were gone, replaced with a lightness he always felt when he was with Iruka. Him and Naruto both shone so brightly that they could brush aside the darkness in anyone. Naruto really was Iruka's son. The chunin snuggled closer, happily content with how the day had gone. All of their friends except Guy were on board with the wedding and now the two of them could just enjoy the company of the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. This gave me all the feels. Naruto and his gay dads.
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite


	13. I'm Your Pervert

Kakashi paused and took a step back so he could fully appreciate the sight before him. He had seen Iruka out of uniform many times, but hot damn did he look good tonight. They had survived the announcements and were getting ready to have dinner with his love's friends, which he had met in passing over the years, but this would be his first real one on one with them. 

Which meant Iruka was dressing up and it made him want to drag the other man to bed. The chunin's brown hair was down for once, which Kakashi loved. The black shirt clung to his body in a very enticing way and those pants! No one should ever be allowed to see him in such tight pants except for him. Iruka put his slacks and button down to shame.

"Stop staring," Iruka told him, blushing. "You're making me nervous."

The jounin crossed the room so he could steal a kiss. "I wish I still had the Sharingan so I could take in every moment of you." This made his love blush more. "And so I could record your face when we-" This earned him a playful smack and THE teacher glare. 

"Pervert. You're going to make us late. You may have a reputation for it, but I'm very punctual, so get a move on."

"Maa, sensei, you think the worst of me. I was going to say I wanted to record your face when spend those quiet moments together. You look so peaceful."

Iruka's glare softened and he was actually very touched. "Kashi..."

"And that face you make when I deep throat you." Kakashi jumped back, laughing, as the chunin tried to push him towards the door. "I'm going, I’m going."

Iruka let the jounin wrap an arm around his waist as they walked. "Ko and Zumo can be a bit much sometimes, well mostly Ko. I don't need you egging him on."

Kakashi could try faking innocent, but he knew he couldn't pull it off with a straight face. "Best behavior. I promise." 

***

Kotetsu and Izumo had already found them a table, so the pair headed over to join them. Kotetsu had obviously been dressed by his boyfriend since he looked halfway decent, his spiky hair had been somewhat tamed. "Damn, Ru. Putting us to shame with that outfit."

Izumo swatted at him. "Ignore him. It's wonderful to see you both." His hair was styled in its usual way, hair half covering his face, but he was dressed just as nicely as Iruka. 

"I usually do." The academy teacher commented as he slid into the both across from them, letting Kakashi take the outside spot, knowing the jounin would appreciate not being trapped between him and the wall.

"Yo." The Copy nin gave his usual getting, sliding in next to his lover. He nodded at the two chunin. "Nice to see you both."

"We took the liberty of ordering a bottle of sake since we're celebrating." Ko poured out some shots, then draped his arm around Izumo's shoulders. "Congrats on the engagement and being officially named Hokage."

Kakashi took the offered alcohol. "Thanks, though I'm definitely more excited about the engagement." This earned him a look from his fiance, which he pretended not to see.

Izumo laughed, taking his own shot of sake. "Yes congratulations, but we should warn you that you shouldn't ever take alcohol from Ko. It’s a sure way to get drunk. It's like his kekkei genkai."

This made Iruka laugh as he also grabbed his drink. "You sign away any rights not to get drunk when you go out with Ko."

"I think I'll be okay." The jounin had drank with the best of them, including Tsunade. He could handle three chunins. He raised his glass. "To my love, Ruka."

***

Turned out that he could not keep up with chunins. He was just this side of being full out drunk and had switched with water. Iruka and Izumo had abandoned them to drunkenly dance together, which was fine with him. He didn't dance...publicly anyways. 

Ko finished off another shot. He was most certainly plastered, but he was amusing and Kakashi was enjoying his stories. "This is bringing back memories of my birthday." The chunin mused. 

"Hmm? Drinks and dancing?"

He nodded at Kakashi's question. "We came here and got really trashed. Zumo and Ru had quite a time that night. Best present ever." 

Kakashi dragged his gaze off of his fiance grinding on his friend to look at the chunin. "What do you mean?"

"They fucked and I got to watch. Didn't Ru tell you?" Ko was too wasted to realize that was something that Iruka would probably not go around sharing.

The jounin froze in place. Iruka had sex with his best friend while the other one watched? He did remember the chunin drunkenly groping him outside his front door. And hadn't he said Izumo had been concerned about Iruka being on top. "Izumo let Iruka fuck him? Kami...that's hot."

The chunin grinned at him. "Oh, it was. You are a lucky man, Hatake."

Their boyfriends decided to rejoin them just then, both panting hard from dancing. "You two look like you're having a good time." Izumo stole the shot that Kotetsu was about to take. "And you're cut off."

Kotetsu tried to protest, but the look his boyfriend gave him was enough to shut him up, even with his drunk as he was. "I was telling him about my birthday."

A look of horror passed over both of the other chunin's faces. "Ko, you shouldn't go around telling people about that! That's private." Izumo chastised as Iruka turned a dark shade of red. 

"I, uh, have to go to the bathroom." The teacher quickly fled the area, trying to hide his embarrassment. Izumo gave Kotetsu a dark look and the two started to bicker in angry whispers. 

Kakashi left the bickering chunin behind as he followed after his fiance, who had ducked into a stall by the time he got to the bathroom. He softly knocked on the door. "Ruka, you okay?"

"I'm hiding in the bathroom because I'm 100% A OK." Came a grumbling reply. "I can't believe he told you about that. I swear I was going to tell you," he added softly. 

"Ru, I'm not upset...well unless his birthday has been recent. Even then I'm pretty flexible on my reaction, especially if there were pictures. And like who hasn't slept with their best friend at some point?" He tried to keep his tone light and playful, wanting to make his love feel less embarrassed.

"You slept with GUY?!" This was not what the jounin had been expecting. 

"Kami, no! Yamato yes, Guy..." He shuddered at the thought. "Not even with someone else's dick. I love him dearly, but no." The images the silver haired man conjured up in his mind made him want to cry. Guy was one man that he had never had a sexual thought about, that was for sure.

"Okay, good." Iruka sounded relieved, but a moment later he yanked open the bathroom stall door with a shocked look on his face. "Yamato?! Do you have some sort of weird fetish for anyone that's been a sensei of Naruto?"

Kakashi pulled him out of the stall. "What? No. This was years ago... mostly before he became Naruto's sensei." He wished his old kohai was in the village more, but he'd gone back to ANBU. He'd have to catch him between missions to tell him about everything. "Besides you're the only sensei that I have a fetish for."

"I'm still embarrassed." Iruka rested his head on his lover's chest. He'd had way too much to drink to deal with all this. 

"Can I ask one question?"

The teacher lifted his head just enough so he could see the jounin's face. "You are on thing ice, Hatake. Tread carefully."

"Foursome?" He expected the hit that came after his question, but he was surprised when Iruka also pulled his mask down for a kiss. 

"You're so damn incorrigible. You're lucky you're cute." He pushed Kakashi away, heading for the door. 

"Come on, Ru. I'll take Kotetsu. He needs something in his mouth to shut him up. I mean that would definitely be me getting the short end of that stick." Kakashi laughed when Iruka made a rude gesture at him. "What would your students think Iruka-sensei?" Said sensei let the door close in his face as he continued ignoring him. 

Izumo looked relieved when his friend rejoined them. "I'm sorry for my drunken idiot of a boyfriend."

"Sorry, Ru." Kotetsu added, sheepishly. 

"It's okay. Just try to keep your drunken confessions to subjects that only involve you." Iruka chastised him, trying to keep him tone playful. 

"I think should probably get this drunken idiot home." Izumo helped said idiot stand up. 

"I swear I'm not that drunk. The floor just keeps moving." The chunin grabbed on to his boyfriend to steady himself. "And just so you know, Kakashi thought my birthday present was hot."

He was quickly dragged away by Izumo, probably so Iruka didn't kill him. Kakashi was smirking under his mask, which earned him a dirty look. "What? He said it, not me."

"I saw that smile, you pervert." The teacher headed to the door, leaving the jounin to catch up to him. 

"If it makes you feel better, I can share my own sex stories." He offered cheerfully, a broad smile spreading over his face. "We can swap stories."

Iruka rolled his eyes. "I am not telling you about Ko's birthday and I get enough stories about the sex lives of jounin from Anko, thank you very much. So that's a hard pass for me."

Kakashi should have let it go, but he missed the days of getting under Iruka's skin. "Really you should be thanking Yamato. He's the reason I'm so skilled at handling things of a certain size."

This comment had the desired effect. The chunin flushed a dark red, even the tips of his ears were tinged pink. "You are a dirty pervert." He huffed, jumping up to the nearest roof top and headed home. He had been traveling for several minutes before he realized he was heading to Kakashi's new home and not his apartment.

Kakashi followed after him, giving him some space. He'd missed their playful banter from the mission's room, but he also knew that Iruka wasn't actually upset with him. 

He was waiting for the jounin by the front door, using the wall to help keep him upright. The copy nin was fishing his keys out when the chunin pulled him against his body. There was the drunk, handsy Iruka he remembered. "I shouldn't reward such a pervert, but you look really good tonight."

The silver haired man nearly dropped his keys when the other man palmed his quickly growing erection. "Maa, sensei, it's not my fault you have hot friends and then I find out you fucked one of them." He nearly whimpered when Iruka gripped his cock. "Fuck, Ruka."

Iruka pressed himself against his love. "You're just jealous that I've fucked Izumo and not you." He pressed his face into the curve of the jounin's neck. 

Kakashi felt his hot breath through his mask. He needed to get Iruka inside before he fucked him against the front door. "You're not wrong, love."

The chunin smirked as he kissed his clothe covered flesh. "We could fix that..."

Holy fuck... did he just... Kakashi's brain tried to process what he said, but most of his blood was currently rushing to his groin. He fumbled with the keys, trying to get the damn things to work. It didn't help that Iruka was grinding against him. He nearly cried out with relief when he got the damn thing unlocked. 

The jounin grabbed Iruka, ready to drag him inside, when he heard the a cry that made him curse Kami. "MY DEAREST RIVAL!" No! Guy had the worst timing. He watched his lover's eyes go wide as he ducked into the safety of the house, abandoning him to his lively friend. Fuck me, he though to himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Kakashi. You are my favorite pervert. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite  
> My art tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/adirtymartinisgalaxyart


	14. Sweet Revenge

Kakashi could handle Guy any day of the week, but slightly drunk and very horny Kakashi was not prepared for Konoha's Green Beast. He looked at his front door longingly as his friend grew louder as he approached. He briefly considered a body flicker jutsu, but then Guy might try to bother Iruka. He did have a few paralysis jutsu that wouldn't harm the other man...much.

"Haha! Pretending you can't hear me. As hip and cool as ever!" Guy was positively beaming as he stopped just short of running into the other jounin. "I know it's late, but I couldn't wait to pass along my congratulations."

"It's nothing. Thanks." He said, finally deciding that incapacitating his oldest friend probably wasn't the best thing to do.

"Nonsense, my friend. You are going to be the next Hokage and are getting married. You have given so much of your youth to serving the village. It is good to see you happy." He finished as softly as he could manage, without his usual boisterous bravado. 

"Guy..." Kakashi had never heard his friend speak so... tenderly. "I appreciate you. I already got Iruka to agree to you being my best man."

This made his bushy eyebrowed friend beam with joy. "You and Iruka-sensei have given me a great honor!" Kakashi almost regretted his words as tears of joy flowed freely from the other man as he felt himself pulled into a tight hug. He decided he was either too drunk or not drunk enough to deal with a crying Guy. He awkwardly patted his back. "It brings me great joy to see you so happy, my rival. Truly."

The copy nin managed to detangle himself from the other man. "And I'll be happy to have you next to me on that day, but I should really get going. Iruka had over did it a bit with his drinking. I think he was feeling kind of ill. What kind of fiance would I be if I didn't check on him?" He'd make it up to Guy by doing one of his ridiculous challenges in a few days. Right now all he wanted was a naked Ruka and a relatively flat surface.

"I'm feeling fine, Kashi." Iruka had cracked opened the front door at some point to observe their conversation. "Thank you so much for stopping by, Guy-sensei. We both appreciate your support in our decision to get married. I wish you had been in town for us to tell you. I'm sorry you had to hear about it from someone else."

The jounin turned his attention to the teacher. "Iruka-sensei! I was just glad to hear the news. I was worried no one would ever want to put up with Kakashi long enough to actually marry him." The two of them shared a laugh as Kakashi pretended he wasn't pouting. 

"How are you feeling after the hot springs?" The chunin noted that Guy was looking even livelier than usual. 

"Fit as ever!" The jounin shouted as he stood to pose. This caused both of the other men to freak out since Guy had definitely not been doing a lot of standing lately. Kakashi moved to catch the other man, but paused as Guy seemed steady enough on his feet, though it looked like quite an effort for the injured jounin. He eased himself back into his wheelchair. "Soon, I won't even need this chair! Pick a time and a place, my oldest friend, and I will show you what I can do."

Kakashi let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "That's great, Guy. I'm glad the hot springs helped and I'm glad you stopped by." He inched towards the door, trying to get towards his drunk, sexy sensei.

"Guy, I know it's late, but I think Kakashi would love to see your new moves now!" An evil grin spread across Iruka's face as he saw an opportunity to get his fiance back for his lewd comments earlier. 

"What a wonderful idea, Iruka-sensei!" Guy set his sights on a now distraught looking Kakashi. Fire began to burn in the jounin's eyes as he eyed his rival.

"Please, just call me Iruka. You are Kakashi's oldest friend, and I would like to think, mine as well." The teacher grinned at the two jounin. "I think I'm going to turn in. You two have fun!"

Guy was already dragging the silver haired man away. "Thank you, Iruka. I am honored by you as always! I shall return your love once I have thoroughly bested him!"

***

It was nearly dawn before an exhausted Kakashi crawled into bed. He was sore and exhausted. Drunkenness and a hyper Guy did not mix well. He didn't even feel bad that we woke up Iruka as he got into bed. The other man just chuckled softly when he saw the time. "I hate you..." The copy nin mumbled into his pillow.

Iruka just snuggled up to him. "You love me soooo much. Next time, remember that I was a prankster before I was a sensei." All he got was an unintelligible response as the jounin passed out. The chunin wrapped his arms around him, still laughing softly to himself.

***

Kakashi was bored out his mind as the council prattled on. He'd already seen Tsunade steal a drink from her hidden flask and they'd only been there for 20 minutes. He let his mind wander away from the details of their growing infrastructure to his fiance. It has been several days since Iruka had started back to the academy. The chunin had been mostly staying with him since their engagement had been announced, which he was total fine with. Nothing got him started in the morning like his lover's cock in his mouth. They still hadn't revisited their conversation about Iruka fucking him, much to his sorrow, but he had zero complaints about their love life. 

As much as he was dreading the responsibility of taking over as Hokage, Iruka had been such a wonderful help. The two of them were steadily plowing through the list of preparations before his inauguration. Oddly, it had brought them even closer together. The chunin made becoming the Hokage feel like the honor it was supposed to be and not an almost unbearable burden. It was interesting to see how people responded to them when they were out and about. He was used to the stares, and even the polite bows, but Iruka had been embarrassed the first time another chunin had bowed to them as they passed by. His new status as soon to be Hokage's spouse was going to be an adjustment for him. He was well known, especially with parents and from the mission’s room, but now everyone seemed to know his name and the teacher seemed to be a bit overwhelmed with it all.

He had assured his love that it wouldn't always feel like this, which had worked, until his first day of school. His class was so well behaved. He had been so happy to have such a wonderful new class until he realized it was because their parents had warned them to be on their best behavior for the new Hokage's soon to be husband. The kids were scared they would get in trouble with the Hokage if they goofed off too much. The teacher had then lectured the adults on how it was absolutely silly for them to put such pressure on such young children. He had been fuming when he got home.

Kakashi tuned back in to the meeting when his name was called. "What do you think, Kakashi-sama?" Dread filled him as the entire room turned to look at him, waiting for his response.

"I...well..." He knew he should have been paying attention, but it wasn't his fault that the meeting had started with the literal presentation about different kinds of wood used for constructions and then went into a debate about which stone to use. Of course he had tuned them out!

Shizune took pity on him and took the heat off of him. "Kakashi-sama, I apologize for interrupting, but there is some paperwork I really need you to sign off on." She bowed to the Hokage and the council. "I am sorry for taking the Rokudaime away from such an important discussion on the proposed construction near the south gate, but I promise this won't take long."

The copy nin had never fled a room faster. "Thank y-"

She waved away his thanks. "Just promise me you'll at least pay somewhat attention in the future and I really do have paperwork for you, but it wasn't actually urgent." She handed him a folder. "And they were asking your option about possibly moving one of the larger clans to near the southern gate to help with protection. Everyone is still a but scattered as we piecemeal the village back together." The jounin nodded as he flipped through the paperwork. It felt like all he'd done lately was fill out paperwork. "On second thought, please take his home to Umino-san. I've seen your writing."

Kakashi laughed a bit. "Is that how you should speak to your future Hokage?"

"It is when he's an idiot that doesn't listen to his important meetings. I expect that you'll be having your new assistant start soon?"

"Yes...I just need to convince him to take the position first." The jounin signed heavily.

"This position is a great honor. I can't imagine anyone saying no. Who are you asking?" Shizune knew it was a lot of work, but who would say no to the Hokage?

"Shikamaru Nara." He wasn't expecting to hear the woman laugh quiet so hard.

"Good luck with that Kakashi-sama. I will let you get back to your meeting." She bowed before him, still chuckling as she walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Kakashi, everyone had a good laugh at your expense this chapter. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite  
> My art tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/adirtymartinisgalaxyart


	15. A Game of Chess

Shikamaru looked absolutely bored as he joined Kakashi at the table. If the younger man wasn't such a genius, the copy nin wouldn't even bother, but he needed the Nara heir. "Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice." He offered him a cup of tea, which the younger man accepted. 

"I didn't have much else to do and I'm not one to turn down free food. The Hokage has me running all these reports for her." He yawned as if just the thought of it was enough to put him to sleep. "It's such a drag."

"How do you think I feel about all these meetings?" His lazy persona was only partially an act. He was beginning to sorely miss the days when all he had to do was not die on a mission and fulfill his task. Now, he had people relying on him. "Which is why I asked you here today. I need an assi-"

"No." The shadow user told him before he could even get the question out. 

"Shika-"

"I already said no. I'm not interested in taking on even more duties." Shikamaru went to stand, having said his piece on the matter. 

"I wanted it to be Shikaku." Kakashi said low enough for only the shadow user to hear him. "I asked him when I was named Hokage previously."

The younger man recoiled like he'd been struck. "I'm not my father."

The two men stared at each other, trying to figure out his next move. The stalemate dragged on for several minutes, neither willing to back down. They were both too stubborn for that, too much alike. Genius shinobi, both lazy, with responsibilities that neither wanted, and now, both fatherless. 

Iruka doubled checked his watch as he stepped into the tea house. He was sure Kakashi had told him they were meeting at 1, which gave him enough time to join him on his lunch break so they could speak to his former student. He was early, so he was surprised to see both Kakashi and Shikamaru already seated at a table. 

He headed over to join them. "Hello you two. Am I late?"

"Not at all, my love. You're right on time to celebrate with us. Shikamaru said yes!" Kakashi grinned at his future husband. 

Before Shikamaru could get over his shock over the jounin's declaration, Iruka was congratulating him. "I'm happy to hear that. You will do wonderful as the Hokage's assistant. I know it's a lot to take on, but you always did well under pressure."

The shadow user weighed his options for a response. So that was his game, using his former teacher against him. He could tell him the truth, but then he'd have to explain why he didn't want the position, which would earn his a lecture from Iruka. That was too much trouble. He decided on a tactical retreat. "I am honored that I was asked." He could always back out later with some excuse.

"There's no one else in the village that I'd want by my side as I take all this on." Kakashi smirked under his mask. Shikamaru didn't yet realize he'd lost. "Did you bring the paperwork, Ruka?"

A look of horror crossed over the younger man's face as Iruka pulled a folder out of his school bag. "Of course, though I don't understand why you need him to sign it now."

"I want to get it submitted before the weekend." The copy nin smiled at him, giving Shikamaru a sly look. It was now the Nara's move. 

He never got to respond because Iruka unintentionally ended the game. "I am so proud of both of you. You have both taken on so much for the village." He tried not to tear up, but seeing his love and his former student finally set aside their lazy habits and rise to the highest levels of leadership filled him with joy. "I know what it's like to lose a parent, and I know that it still hurts, but your father would be so happy to see you follow in his footsteps."

Shikamaru knew he was beaten, so he did something that would be so troublesome later. He signed his name. The only good thing that came from the meeting was catching up with Iruka until he had to go back to class. 

Kakashi tucked the paperwork under his arm. "Your first meeting is tomorrow at 9 am. Don't be late."

"That was low, using Iruka against me." He glared at the future Hokage.

"Don't be a sore loser. You're going to love the fun meetings and endless hours of complaints." He grinned at him. "Besides, we both know you belong at the Hokage's side. Think of it as training for being Naruto's adviser. See you in the morning."

*** 

Tsunade looked surprised to see him so early for a meeting. "I see Iruka is a good influence on you. I wasn't expecting you for at least another 30 minutes."

"Maa, don't try to ruin my reputation as the laziest jounin in Konoha. I have some paperwork for Shizune." 

The Hokage's assistant took the paperwork, flipping through it quickly. "I can't believe you got Shikamaru Nara to agree to be your assistant. And I'm impressed that you got all of paperwork done before the inauguration."

That made Tsunade laugh. "That was definitely Iruka and I'm sure you twisted the Nara kid's arm to get him to sign that. I hope you're ready for this because in a week and a half it's all on you."

"Eh, I hope so too." Kakashi told her, looking out over the newly rebuilt village. He just hoped he didn't fail everyone. "Oh hey, I have a favor to ask."

***

Iruka was a bit surprised when he saw that Kakashi was already home and dinner was on the table. "I could get used to this." He commented as he dropped his bad by the door. 

Kakashi pulled him into his arms. "Only the best for my Ruka. I've been thinking about you all day." 

"I'm sure you have, my favorite pervert." He stepped out of his arms. "But I can only stay for dinner, then I have to go home and grade homework." 

The copy nin pouted as Ruka sat down at the table. "I went through all the trouble of making dinner and you're going to ditch me for homework? No love at all. Can I at least get a quickie?" The other man glared at him. "Blow job?"

"I can see the takeout containers, ass. That's not even worth a hand job. Though I do appreciate this delicious food you got. It looks amazing."

Kakashi sat down at the table next to him. "You should just move in, then you won't have to split your time between here and your apartment."

"I told you I'd considerate it in a few months. I'm not ready to give up my own place just yet. It's the one thing I have that still mine." Having his own place was his anchor went he felt like things were moving too fast. He could go the and forget about all his responsibilities besides school for a while. 

Kakashi was silent as they ate. Iruka figured things were settled until the jounin looked at him and finally said, "Are you happy here?"

He looked up at him a bit surprised. "Kashi, of course I am. Everything has happened so fast that I like having some down time."

"You can have down time here. There's an empty office for you." Kakashi knew he shouldn't push, but part of him felt like Iruka didn't want to be here... with him.

"I've given up so much for this relationship. This is the last thing that's mine." Iruka snapped back. He instantly regretted the words when he saw the hurt look on his fiance's face. "Kashi..."

"I'm sorry being with me is such a burden!" Kakashi through his hands in the air in defeat. "Maybe it is best you sleep there tonight."

The chunin's apology died in his throat when Kakashi yelled at him. "Something we agree on." He angrily pushed himself up from the table and grabbed his bag. "I love you, but you're only thinking of yourself right now." 

The copy nin watched him slam the door on the way it, already wanting to chase him down to apologize. Fuck, he was an asshole sometimes to Ruka and after he'd done so much to help him get ready to be Hokage. He'd led him cool off and beg his forgiveness tomorrow. 

That night, he meticulously cleaned his weapons, trying not to replay the fight in his head. He finally gave up and decided to go to bed. The sight of their empty bed depressed him more, so he grabbed the pillow Iruka always used and a blanket. He carried them out to the living room and slept on the couch. 

***

Iruka was in a foul mood the next day. Even his students picked up on it, but he tried very hard not to take it out on them. His mood did not improve when the principal told him the counseling job was his if he wanted it. The knowledge that this could be his last class for years depressed him more.

He'd been excited about Anko's solution when he'd applied for the job, but now it felt like another thing he was losing. He felt terrible about fighting with Kakashi, but he wished the jounin saw things from his perspective. 

He went to Kakashi's, intending to make it up to him, but the house was empty. He ate dinner alone, storing the leftovers for his love. He was just glad tomorrow was Friday and he'd get a break from the academy so they talk it out. 

Iruka waited up for Kakashi, but he never came home. He was worried as he crawled into their bed, hoping he was okay. His worry turned to anger the later it got. He'd come home for him, but now he was in bed alone. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep.

***

Kakashi was exhausted when he finally got home. An accident at a building site had left several civilians trapped. It had taken hours to safely free them. He had helped oversee the rescue operation. 

He paused in the doorway to the bedroom, taking in Iruka's sleeping form. He'd desperately want to see him to apologize. He was happy to see him in their shared bed. He knew he had class in the morning so he did his best to not wake him as he got into bed. 

Kakashi felt Iruka slip out of bed a few hours later. He desperately needed more sleep if he was going to function at his meetings last so he forced himself back to sleep. He would talk to him later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Shikamaru, you should know Kakashi always has something up his sleeve and you need to work a lot harder to beat him. Also, I promise the boys will be okay. 
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: Lex  
> My art tumblr: Art


	16. Threesome

Iruka knew he should be home talking to Kakashi, but instead, he was at Anko's halfway through his dango and a bottle of sake. "I just wish he understood why I want my own place for a while longer."

Anko refilled their cups with more alcohol. "Because guys are stupid." She grumbled. 

"You're just mad because your boy toy broke it off with you." The chunin downed his glass of sake. "And Kakashi's not stupid... he's just not seeing things my way." He sighed heavily, setting his glass down so Anko could refill it. "But I understand why it hurt his feelings."

"Pfft, stupid boy toy didn't realize how luckily he was to be with me." She grumpily finished her dango. "And you're too nice to Kakashi. He was stupid and hurt your feelings. No one hurts my, Ruka-kun." The alcohol was definitely starting to hit her as she draped herself over her friend. 

"You're heavy, Anko!" Iruka tried to push her off, but she hugged him tightly. "You're crushing me."

"Am not! It's called snuggling and stop squirming." Anko nuzzled his chest. 

The chunin gave up and let her do what she wanted. "If this is snuggling, no wonder you're single. Oww!" The purple haired woman had jabbed her elbow into his ribs. "That actually hurt."

"So did your comment, so now we're even." Anko glared at him. "You suck at snuggling. You're supposed to make me feel better after my break up, not mock me. For that, you should have to spend the night and keep me company."

Iruka rolled his eyes at her. "I have to make up with Kakashi, so as much as I love you, I'm not staying."

"So...make up sex?" She asked, sounding hopeful that she'd get some sexy details. 

"Yes, Anko. There will probably be make up sex. Are you going to let me up now?"

"In a minute. I need more snugs before you abandon me for your sexy fiance." He laughed at her comment, holding her close. He would make sure she was okay before he left. 

***

Kakashi sighed as he looked at the clock. School had been out for hours and still no Iruka. Was he still upset with him? He had come home last night, so he would probably come home...eventually. 

He was moping on the couch when a knock at the door pulled him from his depressed thoughts. Kakashi was not really in the mood for company, but all that faded away when he opened the door. "Tenzo!" He pulled the younger man in for a hug. 

"Kakashi-senpai, you know you're supposed to call me Yamato." He scolded the older man, hugging him back. 

"Maa, it's just us, my little kohai." He stepped back so Tenzo could join him inside. "I wasn't expecting you for a few more days."

"I had an urgent update for the Hokage. She told me you asked her to call me back from baby sitting Orochimaru. What's going on?"

"Well, one, you need a break from that nonsense mission. It's been over six months since you've been back to the village." He motioned for his kohai to follow him to the kitchen. "And two, we're celebrating."

Tenzo shook his head. "It's an important mission." And it was his way of making up for his failure during the war. "I heard a rumor you are being named the next Hokage."

"A mission any jounin could do. You don't owe that bastard any more of your time. And yes, next week, I'll be named Hokage, but we are celebrating something else." The copy nin pulled down some glasses and a bottle of nice sake.

Tenzo raised an eyebrow at him. That was the good stuff he'd pulled out. "Better than becoming Hokage? And I probably shouldn't drink. It doesn't end well for me usually."

"Live a little, Tenzo." Kakashi handed him a glass with a generous amount of alcohol in it. "And we're celebrating you being a groomsmen in my wedding."

This sent the other man into hysterics. "What idiot agreed to marry you?"

"Iruka."

"You're dating Iruka-sensei?! Did you have to blackmail him into that?" The look of shock on his face made Kakashi laugh. "Don't laugh. You've been in lust with him for years. I'm just surprised you finally made a move."

"Ass. There may have been some drunken confessions involved." He sighed happily. Even though they'd fought, he knew they would get through it. He was truly happy with the other man.

Tenzo smiled at the look of happiness on his senpai's face. "I guess I could drink to that."

***

Tenzo knew he was screwed when they opened the second bottle. It was no surprise when he ended up kneeling before the porcelain toilet in the master bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach. "Still can't hold your liquor." Kakashi chuckled as the younger man managed to flip him off. "I'm afraid I'm a taken man, Tenzo."

Kakashi was quite drunk himself, but he managed to help the other man undress and get into bed. He figured it was safest to put him in his bed, rather than on the couch, since it was closer to the bathroom. He crawled into bed next to him, quickly passing out.

***

Iruka swayed a bit as he took his sandals off. Anko had given him way too much booze and kept him pinned on the couch for a long while. She was a needy friend, but he loved her dearly. It was probably good that it was so late since he shouldn't try to talk to Kakashi when he was so inebriated. 

He assumed his love was asleep since it was so late. He knew he'd had a late night when he heard about the accident at one of the building sites. He'd heard that Kakashi had helped save several men. Always the hero, his love. He stripped off his vest, hanging it up by the front door.

Iruka froze in the doorway of their bedroom, trying to make sense of what he saw. Kakashi was passed out in bed, but there was someone sleeping next to him. His heart sank as his mind automatically went to the worst case scenario. He sagged against the door frame, trying to figure out what to do next.

Before panic took over too much, Kakashi began to stir. The jounin had felt a flicker of chakra that pulled him out of his deep sleep. He quickly assessed that it wasn't an enemy, he was home, and Iruka was leaning against the wall, looking wide eyed. "Ruka?" He mumbled half awake. 

"Kashi, please explain why there is someone in our bed." He managed to keep his voice even, not betraying the chaos he felt inside.

The jounin quietly slipped out of bed. "It's not what it looks like. It's just Yamato."

Iruka looked over at the sleeping figure, the shirtless sleeping figure. "Why is Yamato-sensei half naked in bed with you?" He could keep his temper under control when he really tried. 

Kakashi realized how it must look to him. His drunken self hadn't thought about when Iruka came home. His main concern had been making sure his friend didn't get sick. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have joined him in bed. He told his fiance as much. "It was stupid, Ru. We were celebrating him saying yes to being my groomsman. We've slept next to each other so many times on missions. I didn't think about it." 

The chunin let his anger fade away. "I trust you, Kashi. It was just a surprise. I'm sorry I snapped at you the other day. I should have explained myself better without getting angry." He kept his voice low, trying not to disturb Yamato, but he seemed thoroughly passed out.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. "I'm sorry too." He told him in soft whispers. "I know you've had to make a lot of changes lately because of me and it was selfish to push you to move in sooner than you want to."

Iruka leaned back against the doorway letting it, and Kakashi, hold him up. "Sorry I didn't come home. Anko had a break up and wouldn't let me leave. She sat on me and forced sake down my throat."

The copy nin chuckled quietly. "My poor Ru. I'm sure you hated every moment of it." He tugged his mask down, so he could steal a kiss. "I'm happy you're home."

"Me too." He let Kakashi kiss him again, caught between him and the wall. "This is my home, you're my home." He gasped as the other man pinned him against the wall, kissing him senseless. 

Kakashi pressed himself fully against Iruka's body. "Fuck Ru. You can't say stuff like and not expect it me to thoroughly ravage you." He pushed the chunin's shirt up, wanting to touch his bare fresh. 

"Kashi!" He quietly hissed at him. "We have to stop." His lover's answer to that was to drop to his knees and start to undo Iruka's pants. "Kakashi Hatake, we are three feet away from your passed out friend."

Kakashi looked up at him, a look of unbridled want on his face. "So? It’s happened on missions before."

"This isn't a mission!" He angrily whispered to him. 

"Sure it is. Operation Suck Iruka's Cock. I'm the Hokage. I get to assign missions and I assign this one to me." He pushed the other man's underwear out of the way, smiling as he got to what he wanted. 

"You aren't the Hokage yet." Was the only defence that drunken Iruka could manage, especially once Kakashi's mouth on him. He tried not to groan at the feeling of his lover's wonderful mouth. Sober Iruka would never let this happen, but drunk him was loving it. 

Between Kakashi's skillful mouth, and the fact that he hadn't come in several days, soon Iruka found himself crying out his fiance's name. He slumped against the wall, spent. The copy nin seemed satisfied with his work as he stood to kiss him. "Bed now."

"I draw the line at fucking next to Yamato. If you'd set up the spare room like I'd told you, then this wouldn't be an issue."

This made the jounin chuckle. "Just for sleep, Ru. Come be the chunin center of a jounin sandwich." That earned him a glare, but the other man let him help him undress. 

Iruka crawled until the bed next to Yamato, trying to tell himself it was like a mission. Just sleeping next to another shinobi...and his perverted fiance. The late hour and alcohol made it easy for him to fall asleep pressed against the two jounin. He just hoped Yamato didn't mind. 

***

Iruka's head hurt a bit the next morning, so getting out of bed held little appeal for him. Instead, he snuggled closer to Kakashi, enjoying his warmth. It took him several minutes before he realized the arm that was curled around him was not his lover's. He froze, panicked for a moment, before he remembered that Yamato was in their bed. 

He could feel the jounin's warm breath against his neck. He had moved closer to him and was now pressed against his hard body. He opened his eyes, looking for help from Kakashi, but the copy nin was gone. His heart was racing as he tried to figure out a way to get out from under Yamato without embarrassing both of them. 

He knew he'd waited too long when he felt the other man start to wake up. He felt Yamato tense up when he realized he was pressed against the chunin. He quickly moved away, resulting in him almost falling off the bed. Iruka managed to roll over and catch him before he fell.  "Iruka-sensei! I'm so sorry. I thought you were Kakashi." He flushed dark red. "I mean...I wasn't trying to...nothing happened."

Iruka started to laugh. "I'm so sorry. I don't mean to laugh, but you just look so distraught. Kakashi told me you two had too much to drink. He forgot to mention you were a snuggler."

Yamato groaned, wanting to hide. "I'm so sorry, Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi chose that moment to return. "Oh good you're both up." He looked at Yamato, who was still blushing. "What did you do to my precious kohai, Ruka? Did you ask him for a threesome? Because my birthday is next month." He just laughed as Iruka chucked a pillow at him. "Hey, now. You can't attack your Hokage."

"Still not the Hokage, you ass." Iruka slipped out of the bed and headed to the bathroom. 

"Did you have to put him in the middle of the bed? You knew I was going to try to pull him closer." He had a tendency to snuggle close to warmth. It had been something his ANBU brethren loved you tease him about. "And you two are not as quiet as you think you are. Not a mission."

Kakashi just chuckled at him. "Not sorry at all. Think of it as pay back for having to listen to you and Hawk." 

"That was different." Yamato tried to defend himself. "That was actually a mission."

"What was actually a mission?" Iruka asked as he rejoined them. 

"Top secret ANBU stuff. Yamato may have overhead us last night. Oops. Oh and breakfast is ready." He ducked out of the room before Iruka could throw anything else at him. 

"I'm going to kill him." Iruka glared at the fleeing jounin. 

"I'll help. If we do it before he's actually made Hokage they may go easy on us." 

"I'm sorry about last night...and this morning." He tried not to blush at the memory of the jounin pressed against him. He had felt every bit of his hard body, including...

"It's fine. I don't mind." Yamato realized how that sounded. "I mean it's not the first time I've heard Kakashi-sensei having sex...I mean I don't do it on purpose. And he knows I snuggle and you were warm. Oh, Kami. Kill me." He fell back on to the bed, giving up on trying to explain himself. 

"I understand what you mean. I think Kakashi enjoys embarrassing people." Iruka found the shirt he'd let Kakashi remove the night before and pulled it on. "All the more reason to get revenge."

Yamato realized he was staring at the other man and quickly looked away. "Oh and I hear you owe me a thank you. Kakashi was very insistent that I tell you that."

The chunin froze as he processed what the other man had said. "He didn't...I will kill him. It'll look like an accident." He was going to kill him long before the wedding if he kept telling people about certain...assets of his.

"I'm too hung over to kill him, so I leave that job in your capable hands." The jounin was still fighting some nausea. Why did he let Kakashi open the second bottle? 

"I won't let you down, Yamato-sensei."

"I think just Yamato is fine. I'm mean we've cuddled now and I know some very intimate details about your..." He let his gaze wander down the chunin's body. "I think we can drop the formalities."

Iruka hadn't blushed this much since he and Kakashi had first gotten together. "Thank you, Yamato." He quickly left the other man, trying to hide his embarrassment and failing miserably. 

Kakashi was serving up a sizable breakfast when Iruka joined him in the kitchen. The teacher swatted at him, catching him across the chest. "Did you have to tell Yamato about my penis? And in such great detail?!"

The copy nin burst into laughter. "I was drunk?" That was not a good answer he decided when his fiance shot him a death glare. "I love your cock and wish to tell others of my love?"

"I hate you." The chunin hissed at him, taking a plate full of food and sitting down at the table. "You are the worst."

Kakashi kissed the top of his head. "You love me and I am the best. I even made breakfast for our little threesome."

"Don't say it like that, Kashi." Iruka groaned. "I have to be able to look Yamato in the eye on the day our wedding, not blush the entire time." 

"I'll try to behave." The copy nin assured him. They ate in relative silence until Yamato joined them a few minutes later. He had redressed himself, but looked extremely hung over. "Yo. There's food if you can keep anything down."

Yamato made a rude gesture at him as he put a small amount of food on a plate. "I heard the warning enough last night. He threatened to dump me in the tub if I got sick." He told Iruka as he joined them at the table.

"This place is really nice and I didn't want to clean up vomit." The future Hokage grumbled, taking a sip of his tea. "Sorry for wanting to keep it nice."

Iruka kicked him under the table. "Yamato is a guest. Be nice." 

The other jounin laughed at his senpai and his partner. He had saved Kakashi's ass more times than he could count. He was hardly the type to expect to be treated like an honored house guest, but he appreciated Iruka standing up for him. 

Iruka sat back, drinking his tea, and listening to the two jounin harass each other. Then, they took to telling him embarrassing stories about each other. His favorite involved Kakashi being attacked by a chicken. Too soon, Yamato was thanking them both and heading out. He promised to stop by again soon since he would be in town until after the inauguration. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed naming this chapter. I had a lot of fun teasing the boys. And see...everything is fine as long as Iruka doesn't murder Kakashi before the wedding. Happy Holidays and as always, thank you so much for reading!
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: Lex  
> My art tumblr: Art


	17. As You Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half of this is 100% angst, but the smutty second half makes up for it.

The steam from Kakashi's shower made the air feel thick, heavy. He stepped in front of the mirror, feeling sick as he stared at his reflection.This was the broken man they were entrusting the village to. He was not a leader. He was a killer. Friend Killer Hatake. The genius shinobi of a thousand jutsu. What did he know of leading, of peace? 

He had fought in two wars and been in ANBU for far longer than he should have. He had buried more friends and loved ones than he cared to remember. Obito. He traced the scar across his eye. He had failed to save him all those years ago. Finding out he was alive during the war had gutted him. Another failure to keep him up at night. 

Rin. The first girl who had ever loved him. He had finally come to terms with her death. She had used him to kill herself instead of attacking the village. Losing the Sharingan meant he could no longer replay her death endlessly. That was a blessing, but finding out her death was used to manipulate Obito into helping Madara with his plan cut deep. 

He had been a terrible friend to them. Losing them had made him cold, but it had made him a great ANBU. How had Minato felt? He lost two thirds of his team to Kakashi's hands. He'd still been there for him, trying to keep him from falling into the darkness that was growing inside of him. Kushina had done her best to keep him fed and taken care of.

Their deaths nearly crippled him. He could never take his own life, not after his father had, but he wished for death at that time. He took on more and more dangerous solo missions. And still he couldn't die. Hiruzen saw him spinning out of control, but at the time they'd needed him in ANBU. So he had stayed long past when he should have been forced out. 

Losing his ANBU status was a slap to the face. Back then, he'd felt like it was punishment, like he wasn't good enough. He continued his reckless ways as he eased back into life as a jounin. He came very close to dying on a mission shortly after he failed his first genin team. It a way it made him feel better about failing them. They would have gotten each other killed. No one should have to live with their friend's blood on their hands.

His second genin team failed just as much as the first. Didn't the kids get what he was trying to show them? He earned half a dozen new scars after sending them back to the academy. While still in the hospital, he'd wondered how Minato had moved beyond losing Rin and Obito. The thought of the those genin teams dying under his watch made him feel sick. He had failed as an ANBU and now he was failing as a jounin sensei. 

Then Team 7 came along. He had hated them, hated that they reminded him of painful memories. Rin and Sakura were so much alike it pained him. Every time she flirted with Sasuke, it was a stab to the heart. Rin, the girl he could never love. He'd never had the heart to tell her he preferred men, that he saw her as a friend only. 

Sasuke, the one he'd failed to save. He saw too much of himself in him. No family, carrying around a huge amount of self appointed responsibility, and a deep darkness. He'd failed Sasuke every step of the way, much like he'd failed Itachi. He couldn't save him anymore than he could save himself. Only his few remaining friends had stopped him from completely losing himself.

When he first saw Naruto on Team 7, he'd almost failed them right then. It was like looking at a young Minato with Kushina's spirit. All of that personality keeping a monster at bay. He was a daily reminder of what Kakashi had lost. He tried to hate the boy, keep him at arms length, but Naruto was tenacious and could make anyone love him. 

Team 7 gave him hope when there was once only despair. The three brats had made him care again, love again. It made him see how much he'd been neglecting parts of his life, his friends. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to Raidou or Genma. They weren't super close, but they'd been there for him over the years. Same with Asuma and Kurenai. Now, Asuma was gone and Kurenai was left raising their child alone. He needed to visit all of them. 

Tenzo, his kohai. One person he had managed to save in a way. The man had had his back since day one. He knew all of his past, as Tenzo knew his. The story poured out of him over the years through tears, drunkenness, and lust. He was the man who made Kakashi realize how much he truly enjoying being with men. He wished he could love him the way he deserved, but they were both content with the way things were. 

His first friend, Guy. He'd annoyed him from day one, but there was something special about him. He was the one who had grabbed on and never let go, even begging Hiruzen to become an ANBU when he saw Kakashi slipping away. The copy nin didn't deserve such a friend. He could never thank him enough for saving him. 

Iruka. He didn't even know where to start with him, his love. How the man put up with him was a mystery. His kindness towards his students, to Team 7, had been what put him on Kakashi's radar. The fight before the chunin exams. Harassing him at the mission's desk. All he wanted was his love and all he knew was how to push people away. 

But Iruka had finally seen through it. Finding out the chunin dreamed of him made his heart soar. He made him feel almost worthy of being the Hokage. He would spend the rest of his life trying to be good enough for him. For once, he was truly happy and he would do anything to make Iruka happy and safe. 

Tanned arms wrapped around waist, pulling him away from his thoughts. "You were in here for a while. I was staring to get worried." Iruka placed as soft kiss on his back, between his shoulder blades. "Are you coming to bed?"

 Kakashi smiled, even though his lover couldn't see it. "Just reminiscing. I guess I kind of got lost in thought."

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Iruka had made sure everything was ready. Both of their robes were hanging in the closet. Kakashi's new armor was laid out for him. He had given the other man pointers for his speech. Tomorrow, their lives would change. 

"About becoming Hokage? No. I'm more worried that people will realize they shouldn't have let the lazy, pervert be in charge." That earned him a laugh. "Speaking of perverted things, can we swap tonight? I've been prepping myself since you mentioned it."

Iruka felt his body start to stir at the mention of him taking Kakashi. "Are you sure you want to do that the night before your inauguration?"

"There's nothing I'd love more." The copy nin turned in his arms. He would never understand how Iruka had stayed single for so long. His dark eyes were kind and gorgeous. Kakashi could spend hours running his hands through his honey locks. "I love you so much," he told him, stealing a kiss.

The chunin practically melted into the kiss. The past few days had been wonderful. They'd had a long talk after Yamato left about their relationship. He'd even picked a move in day. Hearing that Kakashi wanted him made his heart race like when they'd first started dating. "Fuck, Kashi. Do you have any idea what you do to me?" He groaned, briefly breaking their kiss.

Kakashi laughed, a low seductive sound. "I have a feeling I do." He ran his hand down Iruka's body, reaching down to cup his hardness in his hand. "And I know what I want you to do to me."

"Tell me." Iruka demanded, rubbing himself against the jounin's hand. "I want to hear you say it."

"I think this conversation is more suited for the bedroom, Ruka. Don't you agree?" 

The chunin had him a wicked grin. "Or I can take you here." He pushed the copy nin against the sink as he hooked his fingers under the edge of the towel that was wrapped around Kakashi's waist. A quick tug undid the knot he'd tied and Iruka let it fall, pooling around their feet. He dropped to his knees before the other man.

Kakashi inhaled sharply, taken a bit by surprise, not that he didn't appreciate this particular surprise. He watched as his sensei slowly reached up and removed his hair tie. Fuck, but that did things to his body, as did the look on the other man's face. "Here's fine with me."

Iruka wrapped his hand around his length, slowly stroking him. "So you've been preparing yourself for me? I didn't realize I'd been neglecting you so much."

The jounin gripped the sink behind him. "Never neglected. I just...ahh," he cried out as his love licked the sensitive underside of his cock. "Fuck, Ru." He didn't mean for it to come out like a whimper. "You've had some late nights at school, so I took advantage of the free time."

"I approve of your extracurriculars." The teacher looked up at him, watching his face a he finally took him into his mouth. The look on Kakashi's face was one he dreamed about. His face was flushed as he struggled to not to thrust into his mouth, not that Iruka would mind.

Kakashi buried a hand in his lover's hair. Becoming Hokage was worth it if it meant he got to the wonderful vision of his fiance on his knees, enthusiastically giving him a blow job. His hand tightened in his hair, tugging at the soft locks. 

Iruka groaned as the copy nin pulled his hair. Kami how he loved that. He gripped the other man's pale hips, forcing him to thrust into his mouth. He guided his hips, letting him fuck his mouth. He felt Kakashi slip his other hand into his hair, getting a better grip on his hair.

The silver haired man was finding it hard to breathe as he tried not to hurt Iruka. "Ru, I won't last if you keep doing that." 

Iruka pulled back, gasping. He had gotten a bit carried away, but it was so worth it. He panted as he tired to catch his breath. "Can't have that," he gasped out. He let Kakashi pull him up, leaning against his bare chest. "Bedroom?"

The copy nin responded by kissing him hard enough to bruise. He pushed his hand into Iruka's pants so he could grab his ass. He broke the kiss so he could drag the chunin to their bed. He took great joy in stripping off his lover's clothes, pressing hot, needy kisses to the flesh he exposed. 

He sucked at his tan flesh, leaving behind red marks. He decorated his chest as he worked his way down to his stomach. He loved hearing the soft noises of pleasure Iruka made as he nipped as his soft skin. He gently bit down just above his hip bone, which made him cry out his name.

As much as Kakashi loved making him whimper, he desperately wanted him to take him, so he stopped teasing him and finished undressing the chunin. "How do you want me, Ru?"  
   
"On your back." The teacher rolled so he could get on knees and drag Kakashi into bed with him. The jounin let him push him down, eagerly spreading his legs for him. He watched Iruka reach into the night stand and pull out a bottle of lube. A smirk crossed his face as he also pulled out one of the jounin's toys. 

Iruka gently set the glass toy down, close enough so he could grab it later. He sat back, taking a moment to appreciate the sight before him. Kakashi Hatake, his love. The man was patiently waiting for him. He'd dreamed of this moment, of all that pale flesh. He traced the jounin's scars with his eyes. They did nothing to the away from the sheer beauty of his fiance. He finally brought his gaze up to his devastatingly gorgeous face. His heart still skipped a beat when he saw him mask-less. The beauty mark highlighted the smirk that had spread across his face as if to say 'see something you like'.

The chunin met that grin with one of his own as he settled between those pale thighs. He knew what Kakashi was expecting, but he loved keeping him on his toes. He kissed his way down his thigh, his hip, bypassing his hard length so he could run his tongue somewhere even more sensitive. "Oh fuck." He smiled at his lover's breathy moan as he ran his tongue over his balls and the skin just below. 

Kakashi gripped at the sheets as Iruka's skillful tongue found what it was looking for. As someone who didn't bottom often, he'd was fairly new to being on the receiving end of rimming, but Kami, the chunin was making him wish he'd done more of it sooner. He felt so exposed, so vulnerable, as his fiance pushed his legs open more. He nearly came undone when his tongue pushed inside of him. His breath was coming in ragged gasps long before Iruka began to press lube covered fingers into him.

He closed his eyes, feeling overwhelmed with pleasure. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to bottom for a skilled lover and Iruka knew exactly what he was doing. He whimpered when the fingers were replaced with his toy. The chunin had even taken the time to warm the glass up so it wasn't so shocking as he slowly worked it into his body. 

The first time it brushed against his prostate, it sent a shock wave through his body, making him cry out in pleasure. He felt like Iruka was deliberately torturing him with the slow pace he'd chosen as he let toy oh so gently graze that spot again. The times he'd let others top him had been quick and dirty sex, just something to get off, but he felt like this sweet torture was never going to end. 

Kakashi was almost relieved when the toy was finally set aside. He watched Iruka spread a generous amount of lube on his hard length before he moved back between his legs. This was different that before. Now, he was staring up at the flushed face of Iruka Umino, something he never thought would happen. He pulled him down for a kiss, letting his mouth wander down to his tan jaw, then up to press a kiss to the scar that bisected his face. 

Iruka let the jounin kiss him, let him be distracted for a moment, as he slowly began to push into him. He felt the other man tense up, but he forced himself to relax. The chunin pressed hot, open mouthed kisses to his throat, then sucked at the sensitive flesh. He felt Kakashi shudder underneath him. The distraction worked because soon he was fully inside of the other man. He gave him a moment to adjust to him, but apparently he'd waited too long for the copy nin. "Ru....fuck...please. Fuck me."

Kakashi was beginning to love that wicked smile that Iruka got just before he did something wonderful to his body. "As you wish, Hokage-sama." The jounin went to respond, but then his love pulled almost all the way out of him before gently thrusting back in. The thrusts quickly became more forceful as he came undone under the chunin. 

He tried to grab onto his shoulders, but Iruka pinned his hands above his head. Never had he let a lover pin him down. He felt exposed, vulnerable and he loved it. The chunin was relentless in his pace. He desperately wanted to bury his hands in his lover's hair, wanted to claw at his back. When Kakashi tried to move his arms, he was pushed back down and held more firmly. All he could do is writhe in pleasure under the other man.

Iruka dipped his head down to steal a kiss. He tightened his grip on the jounin's wrists. They both knew he could easily break free, but it was a matter of truth. He trusted him with this, with his body, and that made the teacher's heart race. He took a moment to readjust, lifting Kakashi's hips so he had a better angle. 

It was hard not to lose himself in Kakashi's body, in the soft moans that were quickly becoming loud cries as he hit his prostate. He let go of his wrists as he could reach between their bodies to stroke the jounin's cock. He knew he wouldn't last much longer and he wanted to make sure the other man got off before him. 

Kakashi grabbed onto his broad shoulders now that this hands were free. "Oh fuck. Oh Ruka!" The chunin felt him tense up as warm come covered his hand. His lover's body tightened around him, making him cry out. He buried his face in the curve of Kakashi's shoulder, teeth sinking into the soft flesh as he tried to muffle his cries of pleasure. The copy nin held him there until he came, a shudder running through his whole body. 

Iruka's strength gave out a bit, so he laid on his fiance, making sure not to crush him. The orgasm had been more intense than he expected. Small aftershocks were still singing through him as Kakashi held him, gently stroking his hair. They laid like that for several moments until Kakashi muttered, "I think I need another shower."

This made the chunin laugh and move off of him. "I've made quite a mess of us." He grabbed his discarded shirt and used it to clean them up. "I should have gabbed your towel."

"No complaints from me. If it's not messy, then are you even doing it right?" He let Iruka help him to his feet. He tried to hide his wince. He was already sore and would so be feeling that in the morning. 

After a quick shower and clean up, they slid back into bed. Kakashi was a little surprised when Iruka moved to lay behind him, not that he minded being the little spoon. He snuggled up to him, enjoying his warmth. He had almost drifted off when he felt Iruka cast a jutsu and felt healing chakra begin to sooth his aching body. 

"Can't have the new Hokage limping like he was thoroughly ravaged the night before, I guess." The copy nin muttered sleepily, which earned him chuckle and a kiss to the back of his head.

"I am not explaining to anyone how the Hokage got injured." He let his hand fall away as he did what he could for the other man. "I am so proud of you."

Kakashi was glad is was dark so that his blush was hidden from Iruka. "I'll try to do right by the village."

"Mmm, yes. I'm proud of you for that too, but I wasn't talking about that. You're one of only a handful of men that have been able to handle me fucking them like that." The chunin murmured against his throat, pressing a lazy kiss against it.

The copy nin burst into laughter, which set the other man off too. They dissolved into laughter for several minutes. "Pervert." Kakashi finally got out, tears running down his face. 

"Your pervert."

"Damn right you are, Ruka."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus second chapter this week. I came down with a cold, so I'm not going to work tomorrow. I decided to edit this and post it since I finished it at lunch. I don't know if there will be a post of the weekend (the usual day(s) I post), but maybe a drabble or something. I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: Lex  
> My art tumblr: Art


	18. Rokudaime

Kakashi woke up early with Iruka curled around him. He laid there for a long time in his lover's arms just thinking. Thinking about their life together, how lucky he was to have Ru, what a terrible Hokage he'd be without him. He'd probably skip his own inauguration if it wasn't for him.

He'd often wondered what he would have dreamed of if he'd been caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Somehow it would involve Iruka. He'd been interested in him for a long time and he couldn't imagine being anywhere besides in his arms. 

The chunin finally started to stir, snuggling closer to Kakashi's warmth. The copy nin gently stroked the arm curled around his waist. "It's almost time to get up."

Iruka groaned and buried his face in his pillow. "Do we have to?" At least that's what Kakashi thought he said. It was hard to hear his half awake mumbles with his face buried.

Kakashi chuckled. He was rubbing off on his fiance for sure. "I mean...I am the Hokage. I say we stay in bed all day." He rolled his hips, shamelessly rubbing himself against the other man's morning erection. 

"You're not the Hokage yet." He told him, moving his head so the words weren't so muted. "And I am not getting caught by a bunch of ANBU fucking the soon to be Hokage because you know Tsunade-sama will send them after you."

"Oooh, maybe we'll get lucky and she'll send Ibiki. I owe him some pay back." The man had loved to torment him with shitty missions back in his ANBU days.

"I did not consider being caught by Ibiki-san to be lucky, unless you mean bad luck." Iruka pushed himself up, into a sitting position. "Talk about a mood killer."

"Pretty sure Ibiki is an everything killer." He laughed at his own joke, making his love groan. "That was a good one."

"No, it wasn't." The chunin rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He sighed when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He should know better than to go to sleep without putting his hair up. It was now a tangled mess. That was going to be a pain to deal with.

He spent a while dealing with his hair, trying to make it presentable. Kakashi had convinced him a few days ago to wear it down for the inauguration. Coupled with the robes Shizune had helped him pick out, it left him looking more feminine, which he didn't mind, but he was worried it would bother his love. Kakashi had kissed him senseless and told him he couldn't wait to see him dressed up.

When had he gotten so lucky? This year had been difficult, some of the darkness months of his life, but then, against all odds, he'd found love. His love. Kakashi. The man he thought he'd only ever dream about. And today he was going to stand beside him and help him guide their village. Kakashi had asked him to give him advice, which the copy nin had taken to heart. Never did he think he'd be advising a Hokage. Sure, he'd argued with Hiruzen and Tsunade, but that was far different. 

His let his hands fall from his now smoothed down hair. Today his life really was going to change and a year from now... He shook his head. Thinking that far ahead was overwhelming. He had pretty much set the wedding on the back burner for now. Right now, he had to focus on his new role and on helping Kakashi adjust.

"You look beautiful, Ru." Kakashi leaned against the door frame, taking in the sight of his naked love. "I especially love the scratches on your back."

Iruka laughed at him. "Then you're going to enjoy the love bites on your chest and shoulders." The spot where he'd bitten down when he'd come last night was particularly large and dark. He flushed as he looked at the many marks he'd left on the jounin. "I hope your robes cover that."

The copy nin joined him in front of the mirror. "I hope it doesn't." The lewd smirk he gave the other man made Iruka blush harder. "I love wearing your marks." He pressed himself against his love and let his mouth trail down his soft throat.

"Kashi, we don't have time for this." Iruka tried to make his words sound firm, but they came out as a moan and full of want. Kami, how could the other man undo him with just a kiss? He needed to get things back on track. "We need to get dressed."

"No, I need you to fuck me again. I need you to mark me again." Each word was punctuated with a hot kiss to the chunin's throat. "But I have to go swear to continue the Will of Fire and to always protect and defend Konoha and all its people. But after...after I want you to fuck until neither of us can walk." With that declaration, he moved away from him. 

Iruka was practically shaking with need by the time Kakashi pulled back. "Damn you, Kakashi." He was hard, aching and it was all the jounin's fault. His comment earned him another smirk as the copy nin tried to do something with his hair for once.

The morning did not improve for him. It was like Kakashi was trying to drive him crazy with want. He found every reason to brush against him, to touch him. He'd even insisted on helping him into his robes, which he'd somehow made erotic. By the time they left for the Hokage Tower, Iruka was ready to give in for a goddamn quickie. Shizune had even asked him if he was feeling okay because he looked flushed.

Iruka was torn between fucking Kakashi and killing him by that point. Luckily, the inauguration prep helped take his mind off of things. Tsunade was going to address the village one last time, then would introduce Kakashi. He would be officially made the Rokudaime. 

Kakashi laced his fingers through Iruka's to ground himself a bit. They'd gone over the schedule a dozen time, but he was still worried about messing it up. He suddenly regretted not fully writing out his speech. This was different from the last speech he'd given just before the last Great Ninja War. That was a rally cry before battle. This was...new and overwhelming. 

He felt Iruka's gently brush his thumb over the inside of his wrist and it helped calm him. In that moment, he was incredibly grateful for Iruka being by his side. He still didn't understand why they were trusting him with the village, but he'd do everything he could to take Konoha, and Iruka, proud. 

Finally, they moved to the balcony that overlooked the village. This was it, the day it would all change. He tried to listen to Tsunade's speech, but all he could hear was a roaring in his ears. Would he still be named Hokage if he passed out from nerves? The applauds from the crowd below were thunderous as the former Hokage finished her speech. 

"Show time." Kakashi mumbled to himself. Iruka squeezed his hand one last time before he had to leave him behind. He heard someone announce him and stepped forward, into the view of the village. He didn't know what to expect, but the roar of approval from the crowd was deafening. He looked out at the gathered shinobi and civilians of Konoha and was humbled by their reaction. These people truly believed in him.

He let them quiet down before he spoke. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I stand before you today as your Rokudaime. I'm sure many of you have heard my name before. I am here today because my father passed down the Will of Fire to me at a young age. I am here because of men like the Sandaime and the Yondaime. I could tell you about my service to the village, my supposed accomplishments, my credentials to be Hokage, but today is not about me. It's about you, about Konoha. I never thought I would be up here addressing you as your Hokage, but I will do my best to protect the village, to pass on the Will of Fire to the next generation of shinobi. The last war was not easy on any of us, but I am proud of how Konoha, civilian and shinobi alike, have come together for rebuild our great village. Our work is not yet done, but I am confident that together we will build a future where the days of war are behind us. A future where our children do not have to carry the burden of war." His words stirred the crowd below. They inspired cheers and applause. 

He held his hand up, signaling the crowd to quiet down. "I could not do this alone. Despite the stories about me, I am just a man. I will make mistakes. A Hokage is only as as good as the people they surround themselves with. I am happy to announce that Shikamaru Nara has agreed to be my assistant." Kakashi paused, desperately wanting to look behind him, at his love. He hadn't told Iruka about this next part. "Sometimes the Hokage seems out of reach. It can be hard for the villagers to feel connected to their leader, but I have been blessed to have a partner who has agreed to help be my face in the village."

Shikamaru stepped beside Iruka, gesturing for his former teacher to join the Rokudaime. The chunin's eyes went wide as he started to protest, but then Kakashi looked back at him and smiled. His knees went a bit weak as he was gently pushed towards his fiance.

Kakashi offered Iruka his hand, lacing their fingers together. "It is with extreme pleasure that I present to you my much better half, Iruka Umino. No one I have ever met embodies the Will of Fire like Iruka. He has served the the village dutifully as a star academy teacher and as an integral part of the missions room team under two Hokages. His compassion and love for Konoha will help me be a better leader." 

Iruka tried to hide the tears that welled up, but there was no hiding from Kakashi or from the people gathered below. They cheered for them, for the future of Konoha. In that moment, the chunin felt like perhaps he'd never woken up from his dream, but he'd never dreamed that he'd be standing before the village like this. Kakashi raised their joined hands. "For Konoha." For Konoha was chanted back at them as they finally headed back inside Hokage Tower.

The rest of the day was nearly a blur. It was a celebration for the village, having a new Hokage. Tsunade got properly trashed before Shizune finally got her away from the booze and dragged her home. Kakashi took this as his signal that he could finally slip away with his sensei. He trapped the chunin in the private restroom off of his new office. They had both gone easy on the alcohol, but Iruka was still looking a bit sick. "Everything alright, my love?" Kakashi pulled him close, burying a hand in his dark hair. 

"Just tired. Today was...a lot." He rested his head on the copy nin's shoulder. "I can't believe you dragged me out there in front of everyone. This was supposed to be your day." Not to mention he'd nearly cried in front of the entire village. That was an embarrassment he was sure he wouldn't have lived down. 

The jounin had the nerve to laugh at him. "Our day. You have done as much for the village as I have. You deserve to stand up next to me. I won't be able to do this without out." He tipped Iruka's chin up so he could kiss him. He hated that he had to kiss him through his mask, but he wouldn't remove it until they were home. "Home?"

Iruka smiled up at him, obviously exhausted from the day. "You sell yourself short, Kakashi Hatake. Take me home before I fall over." He wrapped his arms around the taller man's waist. A quick teleportation jutsu later and they were in their bedroom. "Should we have told your ANBU guards before we left."

This made him laugh. "Keeping them on their toes. They can't expect me to go easy on them just because I'm ex-ANBU. Now, let's get your undressed." He slid his hand under the chunin's robes, seeking out tanned flesh.

"I think I can undress myself." Iruka told him, laughing. 

"It's more fun when I do it." He pressed a kiss against the teacher's throat. "How could I not want to unwrap something as lovely as you." He pushed him back towards the bed, gently lowering him down onto the soft mattress. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

The chunin raised up, stealing a kiss from Kakashi's still cloth covered mouth. "You'd probably go crazy and run the village into the ground." His tone was light and teasing as he tried not to laugh. "You are going to do wonderful as Hokage, Kashi. The village is in good hands between you and Shikamaru."

Kakashi tugged his mask down so he could properly kiss him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be a wonderful Hokage. Now, can we get back to undressing you? Hokage’s orders." His demand was met with quiet laughter.

***

Iwashi, Genma, and Raidou landed on top of the building closest to the Rokudaime's new home. The three of them had served under the last two Hokage's as part of their personal guard. They hadn't been surprised when Kakashi had asked them to join his guard in addition to the ANBU that rotated out. "I can't believe he ditched us at the Hokage Tower." Iwashi huffed.

Genma laughed, his signature senbon firmly in place. "Are you even surprised? Raidou and I had a bet on how long he'd last before he disappeared." He was only mildly disappointed that he lost that bet. The copy nin had lasted far longer at the party than he'd thought he would. "Hey, Raidou...new bet? Do you think they are going at it?"

The third tokubetsu jounin rolled his eyes. "I am not taking that bet." Though Iruka had looked quite tired the last time he'd seen him, but he didn't under estimate the sex drive of their new Hokage. "Now, shut up and start patrolling."

"No fun at all." Genma called out as he jumped down. "I've got money on Iruka passing out before the good stuff happens."

Raidou shook his head at the other man's comment. He didn't know much about Iruka Umino, but he didn't seem the type to quit halfway through something. "My money is on them going at least twice."

"You're both disgusting." Iwashi was used to them and their crass bets. Really, it was usually Genma and Raidou only participated to get a rise out of the other man. "I'm going to make sure the perimeter is secured." He would never understand why any Hokage let those two be on guard duty, let alone for the actual Hokage himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first two weeks in January are crazy busy at work, so I was just able to get this chapter finished. I usually write on my breaks and lunch, but overtime has really cut into that. So, I think we are almost done with this story. Just have a few more things to wrap up and this one will be done. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. <3
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: Lex  
> My art tumblr: Art


	19. Family

Iruka sighed, setting his bag down at his new office. He'd known this day was coming for months, but it didn't make today any easier. He had officially handed his class over to someone else. He'd spent the last month working with the new teacher to get her brought up to speed. She was brand new to teaching, but showed a lot of promise. It just didn't make this transition any easier. 

He was officially the school counselor and would be working closely with students that needed extra help and he was happy to still be at the school. It had been two months since Kakashi had become the Hokage. Two exhausting months. The copy nin was still working on the whole work/life balance thing. He usually came home late, ate a quick dinner, and passed out. 

All of that aside, he was happier than he'd ever been. Most of his stuff was already at Kakashi's, though he'd originally planned on moving in after he officially moved over to being a counselor. All that remained was a few pieces of furniture. Kotetsu and Izumo had promised to help him move it, but he'd just been so busy. 

The Daimyo had wanted to come visit Konoha almost as soon as Kakashi had taken over. What time he had outside of school had been filled with meetings and dinner with some of the most important people in the land. Iruka felt sick just thinking about the amount of decadent food he'd had over the past few months. 

Also, the Daimyo had taken a liking to Iruka, meaning he'd had to spend a lot of time with the man. He didn't mind, but he'd barely had time to grade papers, let alone time to see his friends. As sad as he was to give up teaching, at least until Kakashi retired, he was grateful to only be working part time. Especially since being Kakashi's partner was shaping up you be a full time job.

Iruka looked around the small office that was now his. It was kind of nice having a space all his own at the school. He'd filled the space with letters and drawings from past students. It helped him feel more connected. Maybe this change wasn't so bad after all. He was able to help more students that really needed it, like he'd helped Naruto. That thought put a small on his face. 

"Yo, Ruka." Anko knocked on the door frame to his office. "Nice office. How do I get one of my own?"

"You don't. Shouldn't you be in the main office?" He loved her dearly, but he was shocked when she took a job at the academy. Something about wanting to settle down. He'd immediately checked for a henge, certain she was an enemy nin in disguise. 

"I get breaks." She firmly planted herself on his desk. "What's for lunch?"

Iruka shook his head at her. "Tables are for glasses, not asses. And you better be on a break. I vouched for you. As for lunch, I'm having leftovers, but I'm guessing you're getting dango." 

Anko wiggled, rubbing her butt on his desk. "It's a desk, not a table." She laughed at the glare that earned her. "I am really on a break. I wouldn't make you look bad here, Ru. For once, I'm not having dango, but only cause I'm having it for dinner."

"Dinner, eh? That dinner wouldn't happen to be with the same mysterious jounin you've been seeing for the last month, would it?" Normally his purple haired friend would have told him everything about her new partner, down to their blood type, but he didn't even know this jounin's name.

"Oh boy. Look at the time." Anko pretended to look at a non existent watch on her wrist. "Breaks over. I should really be getting back." She hopped down from his desk, ready to made a hasty retreat. 

Iruka stopped her before she could rush out the door. "Look, you don't have to tell me any details, but are you okay? Like this person is treating you well, right?"

"Oh, Ru. I love you." The smile she offered him was genuine. "I promise I'm okay. He's a great guy, just private. I mean we're not like official yet, so I don't really want to say anything. Right now we're mostly friends... who sometimes sleep together."

The chunin laughed at her, moving so she could pass by. "I love you too, Anko. Just know you can always reach out to me for anything." She had been one of the few people who'd stuck by his side after the whole village questioned his loyalty. "Now, get back to work before we both get in trouble." 

***

Kakashi paused as he stepped into the house. There was a slight scent of smoke, which concerned him. He'd managed to get home at a decent hour for the first time since he'd become Hokage. "Ru?"

"In the kitchen!" 

The copy nin hung his robes by the door and headed for the kitchen. He found his love serving himself a plate from a takeout container. "What's that burning smell?"

Iruka sighed, shoulders slumping. "I got home early because of the new work schedule, so I figured I'd make us a nice dinner, but well...I lost track of time and burnt it. So, takeout." He glanced over his shoulder at the other man. "You're home early."

"Maa sensei, it was slow, so Shikamaru sent me home." He crossed the room taking the plate from Iruka's hands. "And I've missed you." He tugged his mask down, so he could press a kiss against the chunin's temple. He knew today would be hard for him since it was his first day without his class. Shikamaru had helped him clear out the daily paperwork, both of them working through lunch to get it done.

Iruka sighed happily, leaning against Kakashi. "I've missed you too." He turned so he could kiss his way up the jounin's throat. "I'm not technically a sensei anymore." He tried to keep the sorrow out of his voice. It wouldn't be this way forever. He just needed to remember that. 

"You're my sensei. You've certainly taught me a thing or two... Mostly involving your mouth." This earned him a playful smack across his chest. "And I've certainly learned how much I love being fucked by you."

The chunin rolled his eyes. "You are the worst. How did you ever become the Hokage?"

"Must be my dashing good looks." Far too soon Iruka was slipping out of his arms to retrieve his plate of food. He watched the other man, missing his warmth already. Gah, but he wanted him so badly. Food then fucking, Kakashi decided. 

The two ate in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying having the other one home. It was the copy nin who broke first. "How was your first day?" He watched his love tense up for a moment. He hated bringing up the fact that he was no longer teaching, but his need to check in with the other man outweighed how uncomfortable the conversation might be. 

Iruka did his best to not immediately sigh. He knew he'd have to talk about it eventually. "It was...okay. Just okay. I had a few former students visit it, and Anko, but it was pretty slow. I know it's just my first day, so I'm trying not to feel too down about it. I ended up helping cover for one of the other teachers for a bit. That was really nice. Honestly, getting home early and having time to myself was also kind of nice. I just need to remember that are lots of good things about this change and not just focus on the bad. And I'm rambling a bit."

Kakashi ducked his head, trying to hide the smile that spread across his face. His fiance was cute when he rambled, but he knew if he told them that the chunin would pout. He really didn't appreciate being called cute. "I'm glad it went well. I know this wasn't an easy change and you only made it because of me. I promise you once I retire I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you." He reached across the table, placing his hand over Iruka's. 

Iruka flushed red at his declaration. "Don't say things like that. I changed jobs, not saved the world. I knew what I was getting into when you were named the next Hokage. And it's only until Naruto is ready to take over." 

"Hmmm, fine. I take it all back. I'm not grateful at all." He grabbed their empty plates and set them in the sink. He made a mental note to take care of them later. Tanned arms wrapped around his waist before he could move away from the sink. "Trying to get me to change my mind again? Because I already planned out what I what to do after I retire instead of spending that time thanking you."

"Ass." Iruka grumbled, face pressed against his back. "You're lucky I love you so much."

Kakashi turned in his arms. "I am incredibly lucky to have you, Ru." He cupped the other man's face, rubbing his thumb over his cheek. "I have a surprise for you in my office."

"I am not having sex with you on your desk." That had been Kakashi's first suggestion when they had started to put their office space together. Honestly, he was glad the copy nin had waited to finish the other rooms in the house because he loved that they were working on them together. 

"I do think about more than sex, sensei." He teased Iruka, grabbing his hand. "But if you don't want my surprise..."

"I want the surprise." Iruka let Kakashi lead him out of the kitchen and down the hall. Really, the house was too big for the two of them, but they both liked that they had space for their own office. Iruka hadn't been in the other office much, but the room was very much Kakashi, organized and minimalistic. It also housed his signed copies of Icha Icha. It was also the most warded room in the house because he sometimes brought work home.

The chunin watched his fiance move across the small room and open a cabinet that contained several scrolls. He pulled out a larger one, setting it on the desk. He looked looked over at him, gesturing for Iruka to join him. "What's this?"

"Maa, I thought you'd recognize a summoning scroll. Your students will be so disappointed." This earned Kakashi a playful swat.

"I meant what's it for?"

"Summoning."

The chunin gave him an exasperated look. "Kashi..."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. "I know my proposal kind of sucked and things have been hard, so I wanted to try it again. This is the summoning scroll for my ninken." The scroll bore the Hatake name and had obviously been in the family for a while. "I want you add your name. You're going to be a Hatake soon and the ninken miss you. Apparently, I don't summon them enough. So, would you like to sign your name?"

Iruka stood there dumbfounded for a moment, trying to process Kakashi's offer. "That's your family scroll. Are you sure about this?"

"Ru, you are my family." 

The chunin moved forward, wrapping his arms around the silver haired man. He buried his face in Kakashi's chest so he wouldn't have to watch his face as he cried. Shinobi were supposed to be strong, never show emotion. But as the well of emotions that rose up overwhelmed him, Iruka didn't care how a shinobi should be. 

Kakashi gently held him as he cried. They stood there for several minutes, Iruka crying and Kakashi comforting him. Finally, the younger man pulled back. "I love you so much, Kashi."

"So yes?"

"Yes." 

That answer made Kakashi's heart soar. For him, this moment was Iruka agreeing to be his partner. He wouldn't trust his ninken with just anyone. He pressed a soft kiss to Iruka's temple. He felt the other man melt against him. The wedding could never come and Kakashi would be happy with this night, just the two of them. Watching his Ru sign his name in the scroll next to his own, this was the happiest he'd ever been, even when his ninken swarmed them after Iruka summoned them for the first time. 

***

It took Iruka several minutes to figure out why he was so warm the next morning. Kakashi was usually pressed against his back, but he was never this warm. The soft snore of one of the ninken made him smile and remember they'd let all of them pile into bed with them. He'd thought Kakashi was silly for insisting on such a large bed, but now he was grateful.

He glanced at the clock, confirming he had to be up soon to get ready for work. Now, he had to figure out how to detangle himself from the ninken. Bull was partially trapping his legs and Bisuke was laying pressed against his stomach. He couldn't see the others in the dark, but he knew they were spread out across the bed. After several minutes, debating how to get up, he felt Kakashi stir behind him. A pale arm draped over his side, disturbing Bisuke. The ninken moved away from Kakashi's hang burrowing up, closer to Iruka's chest. "Good morning." The jounin pressed a soft kiss to the back of his neck.

"Morning. I'd give you a kiss, but I'm kind of trapped." Iruka tried to look at him over his shoulder.

"That's easily fixed." Kakashi rolled onto his back. "Oi! Time to get up." Several of the ninken muttered their disapproval of this plan. "Unless you want to see me kiss your precious Iruka." This got them to start to move. At least one of them muttered 'gross' as they fled the room before the humans started to do something they didn't want to see.

"That was mean." Iruka rolled over now that he was free and snuggled up to his fiance. "But effective."

"It was for purely selfish reasons." Kakashi kissed the top of Iruka's head. "Last night our bed was full of my bratty ninken. I needed some alone time before I have to go argue with the council about the budget."

The chunin slipped his hand under the other man's sleep shirt. "Well, then I suppose I should make it a good morning." He pressed a kiss against his pale throat, slowly kissing his way up to Kakashi's jaw. 

Kakashi dipped his head, stealing a kiss. He buried his hand in his lover's dark locks, using a handful to pull Iruka's head back, giving him better access to his mouth. He nearly growled when the chunin moaned into his mouth. He deepened the kiss, hungrily kissing him. Kami, he wished there was enough time to thoroughly ravish him. Maybe they had time for a quickie.

The copy nin was about to pin Iruka to the bed when the alarm went off. Kakashi nearly threw a kunai at the annoying thing. Instead, Iruka rolled away from him and turned it off. He hoped he'd come back, but instead the former teacher stood up stretching. "Ru..."

Iruka looked at his pleading fiance, whose eyes begged him to get back into bed, and just smiled at him. Kakashi was heartbroken at the cruelty of his partner after he'd saved him from his ninken. He flopped back onto the bed, dejected. Instead of snuggling Iruka, he settled for his pillow. 

The smell of food finally got him out of bed. He figured he'd sulked long enough. He was greeted by the sight of his ninken hungrily scarfing down their breakfast. Iruka was at the stove making them breakfast. These were the moments that made it all worthwhile. His home, his family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff this chapter, but I love it. I hope you all enjoyed it. 
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite  
> My art tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/adirtymartinisgalaxyart


	20. Friends

Iruka stared at the book in front of him. How in Kami's name did people do this for a living? Wedding planning was his least favorite thing ever. He was ready to throw in the towel and let their wedding planner make all the decisions. She was the professional. Why did he have to pick the colors and the napkins? Worse yet, the Daimyo told Kakashi he was looking forward to coming. 

He had no idea how to impress someone like that. The short visits were one thing. He managed to bluff his way through those, but now he was expected to put on some fancy event for the Daimyo and the other kages. He was used to lesson plans, not figuring out dinner for...he glanced at the guest list and groaned. When had it gotten so big?

Anko slapped her hand down on the table in front of him. "You're killing me, Ru. You need to get this stuff picked out so we can go get lunch. I'm hungry." She sounded like more like a petulant child than the elite shinobi she actually was. 

"I would love to, but this is too much. Like look at these color samples she gave me. They. Are. The. Same. Fucking. Color!" He shoved the samples at her, irritated with the whole process.

"You're a terrible gay. That one is clearly ivory and that one is cream." She took pity on him, snagging the book and dragging it to her end of the table. "Let's see... your favorite color is blue." She flipped through the book finding a nice shade that suited her friend. "And Kakashi seems like a dark color kind of guy...so this charcoal is nice." She held the two color samples out to him. 

Iruka looked at her a bit skeptical. "I mean... those look nice together, but can those be wedding colors?"

"It's your wedding. I can't see why not. Why isn't Kakashi helping you with this? Is he dipping out on his spouse duties already? Because I can have a word with him." 

"I said I would take care of it. He's spent weeks working on a trade deal with Iwagakure. This is the first time we will have had a trade agreement like this with them, so it's really been stressing him out. I wanted to take something off his plate, but I'm terrible at this." Iruka rubbed his hands over his face. "And if it was just us and our friends, I wouldn't be so damn worried. But the Daimyo and the other kages will be there."

"Fuck 'em." Anko held up her hand before he could protest. "Fuck them. This is your day. Only you and Kakashi matter. They are coming to celebrate with you, not judge what color scheme you picked out. And if they did, please see my original point of fuck them." She crossed her arms over her chest, staring him down.

Any argument he could present would simply be shot down by her at this point, but in a way, it made Iruka feel better. Maybe he was being silly and worrying too much. "I do really like that blue..."

She grinned at him. "Great. It's a start. So we have your color scheme, now let's pick out the rest." She pulled the rest of the pile of samples and books over to her. "This is a lot of unnecessary shit. I am never getting married."

"Hmm, not even to great, wonderful, 'best sex of your life' mystery guy? Cause it's been weeks and you still haven't told me anything about him. Not even how you met." Iruka flipped through the color samples again since she'd stolen all the other books. 

"The first time or most recently? Cause the answer to both is in an interrogation room. Oh, Ru, look at this pretty center piece?" She looked up to see him staring at her, dumbfounded. "What?"

"Are you dating an ANBU? Also, why were in an interrogation room?" What exactly had Anko gotten herself in to? He glanced down at the center piece she wanted to show him. "Really, Anko? Fucking dolphins?"

"Mission and it's classified." She frowned at him. "I thought you liked dolphins."

Iruka let the topic about her boyfriend drop. She did seem happy and she'd tell him when she was ready. "No, everyone thinks I like dolphins because of my name, so they get me dolphin themed gifts and I'm too nice to tell them otherwise. So, I wait a bit and get rid of it."

Anko sat back in her chair, staring at him like he'd lost his mind. "I have been your friend for how long and I never knew. I...hey wait! So you didn't accidentally break that dolphin figurine I got you a few years ago?"

"Nope. Gave it to a former student." Iruka gave her an awkward smile. "Sorry. I have a hard time telling people when I hate a gift. It was really nice, just not for me."

"Our whole friendship is a lie." She announced dramatically, falling forward, partially onto the table. "How will I go on? Also, what do you like?"

"Scarecrows." Iruka muttered, half under his breath as he flipped between two shades of blue in the color sample book. It was apparently loud enough for her to hear because his offhand comment was met with a burst of laughter. "And you will live because I'm going to buy you dango after you help me pick out table linens."

"Deal."

***

Kakashi put his arm around Iruka's waist as they walked. "Are you sure Anko didn't tell you anything other than we both had to come tonight?"

"I'm positive. She's been acting weird for weeks and I don't know why. Now, she basically demanded we go out with her tonight. She made me swear we'd come." Blackmailed was more like it, but he kept that detail to himself. The wedding was just a few weeks away, so he was absolutely not up to a night out, but she threatened to tell Kakashi a VERY embarrassing story about him and he'd caved. 

"I think she got to Shikamaru somehow because he told me to go home early. He stayed behind to finish paperwork. I was half expecting an enemy attack on my way home since he clearly wasn't the real Nara heir." Being Hokage had a few perks, but the long hours were definitely a draw back. He almost didn't mind being attacked if it meant he got to go home early for once. The first year as Hokage had been rough on both of them, but they had found a routine that worked for them. 

The chunin laughed at his joke. "I think being Hokage has made you soft. Would you even be up to defend yourself?" He was expecting the playful jab thrown his way so he easily dodged it. He wasn't expecting the shadow clone that appeared next to him. He managed to jump out of the way just before it grabbed him. "Anko will kill us if we are late." He took to the roof tops, trying to put distance between them. 

The real Kakashi dashed after him. "Take it back and we can head to the bar. We will still be on time." He had to break hard right as a kunai zipped by his head and he heard the other man laugh. So that's how he wanted to play this. The copy nin grinned under his mask as he chased after his love. Thank goodness his ANBU guards were used to this game because the first time they had freaked out. 

The two soared over the roof tops, occasionally getting close enough to throw out a weak punch or kick, playful taps to let the other one know how close they'd gotten. They finally circled around and dropped down in front of the bar. Kakashi grabbed Iruka's arm, pulling him close. "Don't you know attacking the Hokage is a crime? And now we're late."

Iruka chuckled, a bit out of breath. "Do I care about either of those statements? No.We can tell them we got lost on the road of life and were attacked." He kissed the copy nin through his mask, wishing they were home so he could give him a proper kiss. 

"IRUKA UMINO!" 

"Shit, Anko. Keep kissing me, Kashi. We will distract her." The chunin whispered against his cloth covered lips, only to be pulled away a moment later. 

"You are late!" Anko gave Kakashi a hard look. "This is your influence. My precious Ru was never late before you were in the picture." She scoffed at him when Kakashi just shrugged in response. "I can't believe you two." In a huff, she dragged Iruka towards the bar, the copy nin trailing behind them.

Iruka didn't know what you expect on a night out with Anko, but he certainly didn't expect to be greeted by the sight of all of their friends and chosen family. They knew better than to yell surprise because the last time someone threw a surprise party for a shinobi someone ended up in the hospital with a kunai in their leg. "Anko, what's going on?"

"Surprise! It's your engagement party. I know the wedding kinda got taken over by politics, but tonight is just about you two celebrating with all the people but love and care about you." She was grinning devilishly by this point. "So go have fun. There will be cake and gifts later."

"You...did all this for us?" Iruka's words caught in his throat a bit as he tried not to be overcome by emotions. 

Anko's grin softened into a joyful smile. "Of course. I didn't want you to remember your wedding day as only this super stressful thing. Now, go have fun. Do you have any idea how many favors Naruto and I had to pull to get all these assholes in the same place tonight?" With that she left the two (still slightly stunned) men.

Kakashi laced his fingers through Iruka's. "We have great friends."

"Yeah, we do."

***

Kakashi leaned against the bar, downing the beer Raidou had brought him. "So you and Genma finally settling down, huh?"

Raidou laughed, sipping his own beer. "Yeah. I finally convinced him that paying rent on two places was dumb. And I think he likes not having to get up and go back to his place to get ready every morning." He felt a very familiar chakra signature come up behind him.

"Talking shit about me again, Rai?" Genma used the opportunity to grab his boyfriend's firm ass.

"Always, asshole." He turned his head so Genma could kiss him. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask at how happy they looked. 

***

Tenzo carefully balanced the tray of shots for his friends. The place was packed, so maneuvering was a bit hard. He passed out a few as he went. They had all chipped in to make sure there was plenty of food and booze. He finally made it to the table where Anko and Iruka were sitting with some chunin he didn't know. "Shots?"

"Yesssssss." Anko carefully took the tray from him. "Stay and have a shot with us, Yamato." She pushed Kotetsu over, making room for him. 

"I didn't know you two knew each other," a slightly tipsy Iruka commented. 

Anko shrugged. "I know a lot of jounin."

"Most of them carnally." Iruka quipped back, making the others laugh. 

"I mean you're not wrong, Ru." Anko was more than a little tipsy and took the jab in good cheer. 

Tenzo groaned. "It was once and I realized that I really just like dick way more." 

This caught Kotetsu's attention. He reached around Anko. "Hi. I'm Kotetsu. That hot piece of ass across the table is my boyfriend is Izumo."

Before Tenzo could respond, Anko slapped Ko's hand away. "Stop trying to fuck all of our friends!" His response of 'You're one to talk' didn't go over well and the two began to hurl playful insults back and forth.

"Welcome to my friends." Iruka told the now laughing wood user.

***

Guy had made a beeline for Kakashi as soon as he arrived, but there were so many people that the two had gotten separated early in the evening. By the time the copy nin got back to him, he well on his way to being plastered. "My eternal rival has bested me once again! Finding true love."  
   
The drunk jounin nearly took Kakashi out when he patted him on the back. "I'm sure you'll find someone who can handle all of," he ran his gaze over his drunken friend, "your spunk."

Guy hollered, laughing hysterically. "I don’t know if such a person exists, but I am glad to call you and Iruka-san my friends. I can't wait for the wedding."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Me either. How about we get you some water?"

"Always thinking, Kakashi my friend. That is why you are the hippest Hokage." He let the silver haired man drag him to the bar for some much needed water and food.

***  
   
Anko shakily climbed on top of a table and banged two trays together, getting everyone's attention. "Listen up assholes. It's time for some freaking gifts and to celebrate Iruka and Kakashi finally figuring out they wanted to bone each other for the rest of their lives."

Iruka, who had been in the middle of a conversation with Naruto, flushed dark red. Luckily, Izumo reeled her in before she could continue. He couldn't meet Naruto's gaze, but Hinata was blushing furiously. Her former teacher muttered an apology before Kakashi rescued him to open their gifts. 

Their friends had dragged two chairs in front of a table that was piled high with presents. Iruka tried to protest that it was too much, them being there was enough, but he was forced into a chair by Kotetsu. The goodies started off tame, things the two men might need, gifts from former students. One of the teachers at the academy had gotten his students to sign a card and the bag she brought was full of small gifts from them.

It started to go down him he got to the gift from Raidou and Genma. Iruka didn't know the two very well, but they certainly knew his future husband. He barely had the lid off the gift before he slammed it shut. "Is something wrong Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked as she picked up another present to pass to him.

"Nothing. It's fine, I mean I'm fine. Everything is fine." He shoved the box at Kakashi. "This one is for him."

Kakashi took the offered gift, lifting the lid so only he could see what was inside. Was that...hand drawn comics of Icha Icha Paradise? The were enough that they had to cover the entire book and they seemed to be quite graphic in nature. Genma gave him a thumbs up when he found him in the crowd. The copy nin owed him several beers for finding something like that. A tucked the box under his chair and went back to helping Ru open presents. 

The former teacher had almost recovered when he started opening Kotetsu and Izumo's gift. He froze as his hand bushed against glass and what certainly felt like a tentacle. Izumo tried to hide from his angry glare, but Kotetsu was grinning like an idiot. He dug down further and felt something lacy. "It's in your size, Ru." Ko yelled to him. Iruka shoved the gift under his chair and took another from a very embarrassed looking Sakura.

Several more of Kakashi's fiend had gotten them sex toys, lingerie, and a vast selection of lube. All of which Iruka refused to open in front of so many of his former students. He was not nearly drunk enough for having to deal with this many perverted jounin. But Anko...hers was by far the worst. Mostly because she hid her's in a mostly innocent gift. He wasn't surprised she had snuck a dolphin in his gift, but it took him a minute o realize it was a sex toy. 

"Re-gift that, bitch!" A now very drunk Anko shouted from across the room. 

After the laughter died down, they managed to get through to the last present. "Naruto said to give this to you last." Sakura whispered to her former senseis. 

The blond had worked his way to the front of the crowd and was looking on eagerly. Kakashi let Iruka open it, but his love froze when he was what was inside. Surely Naruto hadn't gotten them anything inappropriate. He finally had to take the box from a now crying Iruka to figure out what was inside. The box contained a single document. His breath caught in his throat when he read it.

"Now, I can marry you two!" The box held a certificate showing that the blond was ordained. Iruka practically jumped out of his chair to hug him. "I know I was supposed to be your best man, but I couldn't let anyone else marry off my gay dads."

***

Iruka was utterly exhausted when then got home with the huge amount of presents. Ko, Izumo, Guy, and Yamato had helped them home. Kakashi's former kohai had told them he'd be back in a few days to give them his gift, a new bedroom set. They finally got everyone sent on their way, leaving them alone. "Our friends are too much."

Kakashi chuckled as he dug through the mound of gifts. "They love us a lot." He pulled out the gift from Ko and Izumo, making Iruka groan. "I wanted to see what they got us." He set the glass tentacle aside, eyebrow raised, and pulled out several pieces of lacy lingerie. "Ru..."

"Don't even ask me to put that on. If you like it, you wear it."

"But it's in your size, love." Iruka gestured rudely at him. "Promises, promises."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are down to just a few chapters left to go. I have decided to do a few bonus chapters after I wrap the story up. One being about Ko's birthday and at least one more with an Anko snippet because I have loved her so much in this series.
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite  
> My art tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/adirtymartinisgalaxyart


	21. I Do

Iruka blinked as light filled the room, confusing the chunin for a moment. His room was always dark, just the way Kakashi liked it, so the light sent him into a slight panic as he tried to get his bearings. His eyes flew open, searching out for an enemy, only for him to realize he was at Kotetsu and Izumo's place. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm his pounding heart. Everything was fine, he was safe. He closed his eyes, wanting to get some more sleep, when he remembered why he wasn't at his place. Wedding day.

Anko had insisted that it was bad luck for them to see each other before the wedding ceremony. So he had crashed in his friends' spare room. He pushed himself up, deciding it was probably best to get up now and start preparing for the day. A quick check of the apartment confirmed he was the only one up. Good. He had one thing he needed to do before the insanity of the day started. 

He pulled his hair up into its usually ponytail, quickly dressing and pulling on shoes. He'd deliberately brought them into his room so he could sneak out in the morning. He headed over to the window and pushed it open. Maybe Kakashi really was rubbing off on him. He could go out the front door, but Anko had passed out on the couch and this was something he needed to do alone.

Iruka slipped out of the window, taking to the rooftops above the sleeping village. He felt a small flicker of chakra, barely there, as his ANBU guards followed after him. Kakashi had tightened security with so many important people, and strangers, in the the village for their wedding.  

The Memorial Stone came into view and Iruka slowed his pace. He was not at all surprised to see Kakashi had had the same idea as him. While Iruka had dressed down in civilian clothes, the Hokage was in his uniform. Even on their wedding day, he looked battle ready.

The chunin dropped down a few feet away from him, closer to his family on the Stone. It didn't take long for Kakashi to join him. He offered Iruka a thermos. "Coffee?"

"Maa, sensei. I know you better than that." It was true coffee wasn't his favorite drink, but he'd gotten used to drinking it since he'd been with Kashi. He took a sip, pleasantly surprised to find out it was his favorite tea. "I figured you hadn't thought to pack any."

Iruka melted a bit at how thoughtful Kakashi could be. "I appreciate it." He glanced over his shoulder at their ANBU guards, who were keeping a respectful distance. "And I'm sure out ANBU appreciate us being in one place. Easier to watch us when we're together, but I wasn't going to argue with Anko." She had been a huge help with wedding prep and she had been the natural choice for his new best man since Naruto was now officiating the ceremony. "And this meeting never happened if she asks."

Kakashi laughed at his comment. "I'd say they could take it up with her for having to split their team up, but I doubt they would. She has friends in high places now. But don't worry. This meeting is our secret."

"What do you mean, friends in high places?" Iruka gave him a look. "Did you find out who she's dating? And you didn't tell me?" His future husband just chuckled. "Bastard. Fine, don't tell me."

Kakashi's mask did very little to hide his grin. "He'll be at the wedding. You'll find out soon enough."

The two of them stood before Iruka's family, holding hands for a bit, before moving down to Kakashi's. Today was not about loss, but they both felt the need to visit their loved ones who wouldn't be there with them. "I should get back before the others wake up. Anko would send a search party after me." Iruka wrapped his arms around Kakashi, pressing a kiss to his cloth covered lips, reluctantly pulling away to head back to the apartment. 

Iruka did not make it up before Anko woke up. He had quickly explained where he went, conveniently forgetting to mention that he saw his husband to be. "We have a lot to do today. Might as well get started." She had already pulled out his robes for the day. "Let's get you married."

***

Kakashi fussed with his hair for the millionth time, making Tenzo huff at him. "You look fine." 

"You aren't the one getting married today, kohai." And in front of Kami and everyone of importance. 

Guy laughed at him. "Yamato-san is right. You look as cool and hip as ever!" He gave him a big thumbs up, striking a pose.

Kakashi ignored them both and went back to fussing with his hair. Finally, Tenzo pushed his hands away and set about fixing his hair himself. After about 20 minutes, he had managed to tame the silver locks. "There. Now, stop fussing, senpai."

The copy nin muttered his thanks. "By the way, you both look nice." Tenzo had chosen a dark suit with a green tie. Some how, Anko had convinced Guy to wear a dark blue kimono. For once he was dressed very understated, but it looked good on him. 

"The lovely Anko said we had to match if we were going to be your best men." Guy ran his hands over the clothes he had been provided. "She didn't seem too keen on wearing green for some reason, so we compromised."

Compromised? More likely he had challenged Anko to a test of fitness or something of the sort and she'd cheated to win to avoid wearing a green that Guy had picked out. The copy nin was grateful for that because then he didn't have to convince the man that green spandex was not appropriate wedding attire. 

Kakashi turned to look at his own outfit in the mirror. He was dressed much more traditionally in almost all black with some gray. The Hatake family crest stood out against the dark cloth. He checked the time again. Still almost thirty minutes before they had to head down. The waiting was going to be the death of him. All he wanted was his Ru and their bed. 

Soon.

***

Iruka kept glancing at the clock, counting down the seconds until the ceremony started. Anko had pinned his hair back on one side, leaving most of his scarred face bare. He ran his hands down the front of his kimono, imagining Kakashi is his. Iruka was dressed in blue and grays. Anko had assured him they would look stunning together. 

"Calm down, Iruka. You're fidgeting. Would you like to rub my soft toe beans? That will calm you down." Pakkun offered him a paw.

"No fur on the formal wear!" Anko called from across the room. She was still styling her own hair. "I don't have anything to get fur off of you."

Pakkun huffed and jumped down to join the other ninken. All of them were wearing bow ties. "When do we get to do the flower thing?" Shiba asked, hoping around excitedly. 

The pug sighed. "Soon. I already told you. We have to wait for the ceremony to start."

"Yeah, yeah. Bull carries the basket. We scatter the flowers. I got it, but I tired of waiting." The other dog whined. 

Iruka hid his smile as some of the other ninken joined in on the complaints. They had been overjoyed to be included in the wedding, but waiting was not their strong point when they weren't on a mission. 

Soon, Anko was herding them out of the door. "Remember, Kotetsu and Izumo are waiting for you with the basket. Don't start until the music does." She watched the ninken go, then turned to Iruka. "Ready?"

"Very much so." 

***

It was finally here, the day he had dreamed of, the day he would marry Kakashi Hatake. His heart was pounding as he and Anko rounded the corner and he finally got to see Kakashi. The man was absolutely stunning. He brushed away tears that welled up suddenly. Iruka had never been happier.

Kakashi closed the distance between them, pulling him into his arms. "You have never looked more stunning, Ru."

"That was supposed to be my line." Iruka pressed his face into the curve of the copy nin's neck. 

"Ok, break it up you two. Save it for tonight." Anko said, though she was grinning at how adorable they looked together. "So the ninken are going first, then me and Guy. Then the main attraction? Everyone ready? Good."

The ninken heard the music start darted outside. They'd be lucky if they managed to actual spread the pedals around in their excitement. Anko offered Guy her arm and the two of them started after the dogs. "Last chance to back out." Kakashi whispered to him, making the chunin burst out in laughter. 

He let Kakashi take his hand as they stepped out together. Hundreds of people were facing them, watching them walk down the aisle together. Iruka felt Kashi's grip on his hand tighten so he squeezed his hand to comfort him. Neither enjoyed being the center of attention like this.

The pair walked past the shinobi of their village, their closest friends, and the past the other Kage and the Daimyo. Every step took them closer to an eager looking Naruto. This was a moment they had both dreamed of, a day that couldn't come soon enough. 

They stopped in front of Naruto and turned to face each other. Iruka felt light headed as Naruto began to read the words that started the ceremony, welcoming the guests, blessing the union, but they weren't the words Iruka was dying to hear. Part of him still felt caught in the endless dream and he feared he would wake before he got to the ring exchange, before he officially married the man he loved. 

Kakashi brushed his thumb over the inside of his wrist. Iruka wondered if he could feel how hard his heart was pounding. He could barely hear Naruto over the roaring in his ears, his own pulse almost drowning out the ceremony. He looked confused for a moment when the jounin released his hand, but then he realized it was just to get the ring that Guy was holding.

Iruka watched him slip the band on to his finger as Kakashi swore to be his. His turn now. He turned to Anko, who was already waiting to give him the ring. He was so nervous he almost dropped it and he hoped no one noticed. "You're doing great." Kakashi said softly, so only he could hear.

The chunin looked up at him, feeling too much for a moment. Scared, overjoyed, relieved that this was real. He managed to get the ring on Kakashi's finger even though his hands shook a bit and then it was done. Naruto officially announced them and Kakashi gave him a chaste kiss, cloth brushing against his lips.

***

Kakashi felt his heart skip a beat as he rounded the corner with Guy. No one deserved to be as handsome as his Ru looked that day. He saw tears well up in his love's eyes and he quickly closed the distance between them so he could pull him into his arms.  "You have never looked more stunning, Ru."

"That was supposed to be my line." Iruka pressed his face against him and Kakashi held him close. This was all he needed, just him and Iruka.

"Ok, break it up you two. Save it for tonight." Anko was grinning like a lecherous pervert at them, but she looked so happy. "So the ninken are going first, then me and Guy. Then the main attraction? Everyone ready? Good."

His ninken took off, Bull trying hard not to spill flower pedals ever where as the others raced around him, eager to complete their task. Anko and Guy followed after them. He bent his head down to Iruka's ear. "Last chance to back out." The sound of Iruka's laughter made him grin under his mask.

He took Iruka's hand and followed after their friends. As a shinobi and ex ANBU, Kakashi was used to terrifying situations, but as hundreds of people turned to look at them, he felt a bit overwhelmed. He didn't even realize he how hard he was gripping Iruka's hand until the other man squeezed his hand to reassure him.

Together they walked towards Naruto. Kakashi may have looked calm, but inside he was a nervous wreak. So much could go wrong today. His eyes scanned the guests, looking for any sign of trouble. If someone was going to attack the village, today would be the day to do it. There was extra security, but the village was full of high profile targets. 

The pair stopped in front of Naruto and he turned to face Iruka. He had never thought he'd actually get married, especially not to the man who stood in front of him. This day seemed like a dream, like maybe he had been caught in the dream jutsu. 

He brushed his thumb over Iruka's wrist, feeling his pulse. The other man's heart was racing. He reluctantly released his hand so he could take Iruka's ring from Guy. He carefully slipped it on to the chunin's hand.

The joy that crossed over Iruka's face made his heart soar. All the stress of the last year as Hokage faded away. For a moment, it was just the two of them. Then Iruka almost dropped his ring as he took it from Anko making the copy nin grin behind his mask. "You're doing great." He whispered to his love.

Iruka managed to get the ring on without further incident. Their eyes met and Kakashi got lost in the emotions that crossed over the other man's face. His Ru, now Iruka Umino Hatake as Naruto just declared. He kissed him softly, savoring this moment, this feeling of complete happiness and joy. 

***

The reception was larger than either of the grooms had ever imagined for their wedding. "You know all this is your fault, right? You just had to become Hokage." Iruka teased, trying to hide his smirk.

"Says you. We can't go anywhere without people greeting their precious Iruka-sensei. I swear more people recognize you than me." Kakashi quipped back. The two shared a small laugh.

"Holy fuck!" Iruka hissed under his breath. "That's who Anko is dating?"

The copy nin turned his head to take in the sight of the purple haired woman with her arm around Ibiki's waist. "Yep, but it works in an odd way."

"Well, you're not wrong about that."

***

"Is the Mizukage alright?" Iruka looked up at Kakashi. "She seems a bit stressed."

Kakashi shrugged, watching as Guy talked boisterously to the woman. "Weddings are a sore subject for her. Something about not being married yet. I don't think hearing Naruto is engaged helped much."

"Ahh. Should we save her from Guy?"

"I'm good. You're more than welcome to intervene."

"Pass."

***

Iruka felt like he had talked to just about every person of importance in the Allied Nations, when he was stopped by the Kazekage, Gaara. He was very much enjoying chatting with the younger man, but he was exhausted. "Naruto has told me how much you mean to him, so I'm glad we had the opportunity to meet."

"Me as well, Kazekage-sama. Your friendship means the world to Naruto. I am glad you could make it today." Iruka was relieved when Anko headed his way, hopefully to tell him he could go home.

"I know you two are opening gifts later, but I hope you enjoy my gifts. I had one of them made special for you. It's a dolphin." The younger man's tone was neutral, but he looked nervous as he told him about the gift.

Iruka kept his face blank. There was no way he was going to crush the Kazekage by telling him he really didn't like dolphins. Anko had apparently overheard Gaara's comment because she darted away, trying not to laugh. "I'm sure it's a beautiful piece. I look forward to seeing."

Anko finally managed to compose herself and went to fetch Iruka. The chunin bid the Kazekage farewell and set off with his friend back to finally get changed and go home. "Thank you for everything, Anko."

"I'd do anything for you, Ru. I just have one question."

"Hmm?"

"You gonna re-gift the Kazekage's gift?"

"I hate you."

***

Iruka groaned as he stripped of his wedding clothes, grateful that the day was over and that he could enjoy the peace of their home. "Iruka Umino Hatake. It has a nice ring to it." Kakashi said, watching his now husband undress. "But it's not official until we consummate the marriage."

This made the chunin burst out in laughter. He should have expected that. "How about I just lay there and you consummate it?" Their bed had never felt more comfortable as it did just then as he sank down into the soft covers.

The copy nin curled up behind him. "Solo consummation doesn't sound like much fun." He placed a soft kiss on Iruka's neck. "I guess we can wait until tomorrow."

Iruka chuckled. "How generous of you. I don't know how people have the energy for sex after their wedding day. It's exhausting."

"But is it everything you dreamed it would be?" He tried to keep the uncertainty out of his voice, but it crept in a bit. 

The chunin turned so he was facing his husband. "Of course it was." He cupped Kakashi's jaw, his thumb stroking his cheek. "Even more so because this is real. The real Iruka and the real Kakashi getting married for real."

Kakashi smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. "I often wondered what I would have dreamed of if I'd been caught up in the jutsu. I know it would have involved you. I was hopelessly in love with you, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself."

"Then, it's a good thing that dreams do sometimes come true."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this marks the official end of The Dreams We Dream. I currently have two bonus chapters planned that will be added later. I had been toying with the idea of this story for a long time before I sat down and finally decided to write it. I had not published any fanfiction in almost ten years before I started this story and this was my first attempt writing anything for Naruto. This story has done way better than I ever could have hoped. All of you have blown me away with your kind comments and kudos. I have found some wonderful new friends thanks to the KakaIru fandom and I have so many works in progress right now. Please keep an eye out for some new stories and shorts. I have loved talking with all of you via comments, Discord, and Tumblr. I have started a new fun thing on my Tumblr called Texts from KakaIru, so check out my page for some extra fun. Once again, thank you all so so much.
> 
> My Alexia Nite tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/alexianite  
> My art tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/adirtymartinisgalaxyart


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